Method and tool for classifying documents to allow a multi-dimensional graphical representation

ABSTRACT

A method of managing visual distinctive features on axes is provided, the method comprising providing a first group of documents having a first attribute in common, displaying the first group of documents on a first axis, providing a second group of documents having a second attribute in common, displaying the second group of documents on a second axis and displaying a visual distinctive feature in connection with a set of documents having a third attribute in common, the set of document comprising at least one document from the first group of documents and at least one document from the second group of documents, wherein the third attribute is attributed to each document in the set of documents irrespective of the position of each document in relation to one another on the first axis and second axis, the visual distinctive feature discriminating the documents associated with the third attribute from the documents not associated with the third attribute on the axes. A system and a graphical user interface providing same are also hereby provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE

This United States patent application is a nonprovisional of, and claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to, each of U.S. provisionalapplication No. 60/957,444, filed Aug. 22, 2007, entitled INFORMATIONELEMENTS LOCATING SYSTEM AND METHOD, and U.S. provisional applicationNo. 60/971,214, filed Sep. 10, 2007, entitled GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATINGSYSTEM AND METHOD. Each of these provisional priority documents areincorporated herein by reference. Additionally, each of the followingpatent applications and corresponding publications is incorporatedherein by reference: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/774,591 andcorresponding publication US 2007/0271508 A1; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/794,219 and corresponding publication US 2008/0312281 A1;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/885,120 and correspondingpublication US 2008/0130563 A1; and U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/943,558 and corresponding publication US 2009/0070662 A1.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to computer systems and morespecifically to man-machine interfaces that facilitate informationlocalization and organization.

2. Description of the Related Art

Computer systems are changing the way we live. They give access to atremendous computing power. Now everybody can own and operate a computersystem. The evolution of computer systems and software happens quiterapidly. Thirty years ago computers were huge mainframe units with lesscomputer power than today's small calculators; now we have small andpowerful computer systems that are relatively inexpensive.

Because they have become sufficiently powerful, computer systems are nowpart of our everyday communication tools, allowing their users to storelarger and larger quantities of data (i.e. information). Given theever-increasing scale and diversity of information and use of theInternet, improving the technology of information retrieval isimportant. Information on every form (i.e. data, audio, picture, video .. . ) is now easily accessible like never before with available networks(for instance the Internet). Therefore, the data quantity the computersystem user has to deal with is growing at an accelerated rate. Thevolume of information is already so high that the time necessary to dealproperly with it is often unacceptable especially for professionals,scientists and business people. In order for that information to becomeactually usable knowledge, it needs to be easily accessible, usable andunderstandable.

Evolution of computer science over recent years has allowed nearly alltypes of information to be digitized and transformed into a form acomputer can handle. The sources of information are numerous, thereforeit is difficult for prior art computer systems to store information in amanner that: A) allows retrieval through a common process/presentation,B) allows the storage structure to be adjusted to his/her thinkingprocess, C) allows the user to create links between the elements ofinformation and D) provides visualization that clearly shows thecontinuity between different elements of information that are using adifferent time frame. In consequence, the task of efficiently gatheringand extracting information from computer systems may be both difficultand tedious.

The systems well known in the art, however, are designed so that theuser has to adapt to the computer systems rather than the other wayaround. Furthermore, the filing process in the computer system willgenerally lead to some extent, to the loss of the flow of information,as portions of information are separated during the filing process.Creating multiple links is usually tedious, complicated, requiresself-discipline and is very costly in terms of time and memory space.

Conventional computer systems for organizing information are oftenimplemented as part of the operating system of the computer system andare therefore provided as a basic utility to the user of the system toallow the user to organize information in a manner embedded in theoperating system.

The main organizing system that is usually provided with existingoperating systems is the hierarchical filing system. The hierarchicalfiling system is well known in the prior art and provides a hierarchy offolders (i.e. directories or subdirectories) into which the user maystore information, such as text documents, data, pictures, videos, andmusic files.

Classification and accessibility to the information usually require userknowledge of numerous applications, as well as self-discipline in themapping of the data storage system. Each type of file has a uniquesoftware that is suited to open it. Now, the Internet provides some kindof interchangeability between files of differing format although theinterchangeability is often limited to Internet related files (i.e.HTML, XML, JAVA . . . ). Even if the meaning of one information as partof a group of information is critical, generally it is not possible tohave a global overview of all the various types of information recordedbecause of the number of different programs needed to visualize thedifferent file types. The links between various files relate to a commontopic and are not obvious to the user.

The most popular hierarchical filing system in operating systems areWindows Explorer™ on Windows™ operating system and the Finder™ on theMacintosh™ operating system. Despite popularity, these systems providetools that manage efficiently only small quantities of information at atime. These systems both remain restrained to filing by file names usingthe “save as” function in most applications. With this kind ofclassification a user can only have a “local” view on what is stored inthe computer system; a problem typically occurs when the informationquantity is too large and diversified. The problem is exacerbated iflinks between the different information are provided.

While the hierarchical filing system allows a user to specify astructure within which to file and store information in order to avoidthe clutter of a single folder receptacle, the hierarchical structureforces the computer user to be as organized as possible in filinginformation. If the user has difficulty in filing documents because ofthe difficulty in deciding the proper categories for the document (e.g.the document does not clearly apply to only one specific folder), theuser can file the document in a folder where it will be difficult toretrieve considering it could have been placed logically in manydifferent folders. The usual manner prior art systems use would be tosave a copy of a document in as many different directories as there arelinks and save linked documents in the same directories. Such anapproach is labor-intensive, requires considerable self-discipline, andis extremely costly in terms of time and memory space. Furthermore, thelinks between the documents remain non-evident.

As more and more documents are stored in the computer system memory, anincreasing number of documents are arbitrarily stored in thehierarchical filing system. The user begins to have a bewilderingclutter of documents in every folder. Some of the documents aremisplaced or should have been located in many folders at the same time.With time, the user's needs change and the hierarchical filing systemmust be updated with newer considerations but most users are dissuadedbecause of the known difficulty and time requirements. Usually, usersprefer to continue saving files to the same directories and folders andthen wishing they could remember where the files were stored. Inaddition, the time needed to search in that kind of hierarchical filingsystem becomes more and more important as the number of files isgrowing.

It should be noted that the difficulty in filing documents in a computersystem also affects the way the user interacts with the computer systemin that the user attempts to avoid the difficult work involved in filinga document that is hard to categorize. This tends to result in thecomputer becoming cluttered with documents that are hard to categorizeor otherwise filed or the user does not attempt to place the documentsin the computer system memory at all because of the realization it willbe difficult to organize. This effect tends to negate the advantages ofa filing system that has a hierarchical filing system with a graphicaluser interface.

Every user has a preferred manner to file information in a computersystem. Some prefer a file name to distinguish each document whileothers will implement different hierarchical architecture. Other userswill file information according to time. It is hard for someone else tounderstand what the computer system is keeping in its memory consideringthe different ways users can tailor the hierarchical filing system. Itis hard to understand what is important, what is not, and what isrelated to what. Interchangeable knowledge is still difficult to attainbetween computer systems users. This is obvious in that it is oftendifficult to understand the information on an unfamiliar computer andthe time needed to familiarize oneself with an unfamiliar system isoften time-prohibitive.

Prior art information organizing systems usually do not provide a way toeasily understand links between the information. Every information isusually considered as a unique piece of information and only the creatorof the information is (really) aware as to what it relates to. AnE-mail, a web page, a spreadsheet, or a text document are certainlyinformation but the value they have is limited as long as the linksbetween them are not obvious to another user. Computer system do nothave information organizing system that allow the user to perceiveefficiently the links that connect information elements in an“understandable story” to get the whole meaning of the information. Thatis, the user is still oblivious to the trends underneath theinformation.

When one is given a document to review, there is often a desire toannotate the electronic document similar to annotating a paper copy.Doing so with an electronic document will, similar to the paper version,result in permanent alteration of the base document unless a second copyis made. Furthermore, if different notes and comments are aimed atdifferent individuals, there needs to be as many different copies asthere are targets or receivers. It then may be desirable that suchannotations be made on a layer that does not alter the original documentto avoid creating new documents for each desired target.

In addition, conventional information organizing systems suffer from atleast another disadvantage: they do not provide a tool to easily searchand visualize the search results starting with an arbitrary informationelement. Search results provided by conventional information organizingsystem are given in order of relevancy using typed text as a searchinginterface. Results are not given using pictures or images although theinformation would be much more valuable since it is not possible toexplain in a short paragraph what a picture can show. When the user isdoing a search within a conventional organizing system or even withInternet search engines, the user is usually beginning searching withspecific words, topics, or file formats. This allows the user to isolateinformation elements that contain the searched words either in the titleor in the file itself. It is similar with file format in that only filenames of a specific format will be showed as a search result. Often,results will be presented by relevancy using a listing. Relevancy isbased on arbitrary considerations depending on the search engine used.That kind of search fails to present search results where the relatedlinks with the information element are clearly shown.

With a prior art information managing system, the user must oftenmeticulously store documents in numerous directories. Easily displayingall the elements linked and their sequence of entry is usuallydifficult. Furthermore, displaying all the elements of informationlinked by a combination of attributes to display all the linked elementsin the order or sequence that they have been entered (it may, forinstance, be useful to show a series of communications that have led toa final memo, or a series of reports that have led to a givenprofessional decision) is also impractical. Conventional informationmanaging systems are often time-consuming and include obstacles thatprevent users from regularly maintaining, in a structured manner,significant quantities of information. For example, if a user wants tokeep a “life long” information journal or logbook (like R. BuckminsterFuller's Chronofile for instance), the user cannot use prior artinformation organizing systems to record the information from his/herlife. It is not possible for an individual to record and to file variousinformation elements from multiple sources over a long period of timeand hope that someone else will be able to understand quickly andefficiently the meaning of the information, the relationship between theinformation elements as well as the order in which the events occurred.Any sorting of these information would lead to the destruction of theonly relation that exists between them.

In corporate environments, it is important that the “knowledge” of theenterprise remains usable, regardless of the employment status of theauthor. Additionally, it is also desirable that the data managementmethods used by employees be unified, both for efficiency,interchangeability and ease-of-training reasons. That is, a unifiedsystem enables the decision-making process to be more coherent. Anefficient and coherent information managing system should also be anintricate part of a company quality assurance program.

Furthermore, companies that are engaged in extensive research anddevelopment generate substantial files and documents from severalsources. As a result, these document-driven firms need a tool toefficiently track these documents. It can be useful to keep track ofproject history and the objective behind each stage of the project. Bymaintaining a detailed history, additional projects may be fostered andrepetitive projects avoided. Adding to the need for efficient andorganized document management is professional employee turnover. Oneexample of an incentive for a structured file management structure istax incentive. In some countries, research and development can be taxdeductible. In order to have access to the R&D tax credit a company mustprove the work was done. With prior art documents filing systems itrepresents an enormous task to find the information needed to make theproof. Knowledge tracking, recording, and interchangeability represent aconstant challenge and a huge task that prior art systems cannotadequately accommodate.

Maintaining an address book and a calendar or agenda are usuallyconsidered by conventional information managing systems as separatetasks using separate software. These two relations to information arefundamental and should be included in a complete designed informationmanaging system.

Prior art computer systems or computer interfaces have not providedsolutions to deal with the aforementioned problems and each of thesedeficiencies in the prior art yield a demand for an improved informationmanaging system and method using an intuitive and natural way tovisually present information as well as the associations between theinformation. Other needs might become apparent for a person havingskills in the art of information management in view of the presentreading.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, desirable to provide a method and a system thatorganize information that is an improvement over known informationorganizing methods and systems and improves at least one of theaforementioned deficiencies.

Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention provides a unifiedmethod for graphically representing and organizing documents, that mightbe any kind of information regardless of the format, type, size, mediaor nature of the information.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, at least onecharacterization attribute is associated with each information element.A characterization attribute can be described as a “category”, topic,condition, task, action or type of document that characterizes theinformation element according to the meaning the information element hasfor the user. Because it is desirable to carry as much context aspossible with every information element the invention also provides atool to work with many characterization attributes for every informationelement.

One further aspect of the present invention is a vector of informationelements. An information element vector is usually the representation ofmore than one information element in a particular order. Accordingly,this aspect of the present invention provides a first document vector.The first document vector generally includes documents having at leastone common characterization attribute. Document vectors presentdocuments regardless of format or origin. The ordering of documents on avector is made according to a desired order (i.e. time, statistics,memory size, last used, . . . ).

According to another aspect of the present invention, the selection ofat least one characterization attribute from at least one document on adocument vector generates a second document vector including minimallyone, but generally more than one, documents. The ability tosimultaneously show a sequence of documents as well as a sequence oflinked documents actually creates a multi-dimensional graphic interface.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the generation ofa second document vector may act as a relational search enginepresenting documents that include at least one common characterizationattribute. The second document vector presents documents in a way it iseasy to ascertain which document is following the other on a same topicor category associated by an information attribute. In addition, it isintuitive and easy for the user of the information system to follow thepath documents using the document vectors in a multi-dimensionalenvironment. The document vectors are evolving in the vectorial spacethat might be interpreted as a plan or a volume used by the differentvectors.

In one aspect of the present invention, the system graphicallyrepresents on a display the document vectors containing a representationof documents in a predetermined order so it is possible to perceive whatdocuments are surrounding a selected document, what is before, what isafter on one or on many characterization attributes. The graphicalrepresentation brings a lot more information in a glimpse of an eye thanconventional representations (i.e. listings). Furthermore, the user canswitch from one document to another following only the relation betweenthem (i.e. characterization attributes).

It is another aspect of the present invention to have a third documentvector.

It is another aspect of the present invention to have a third documentvector which may represent the variation in time of a given document.Variations can mean versions, annotations, and updates of a givendocument.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a progressive zoom inand zoom out of the document vector. A user can then see only a part ofone document, one complete document; or many documents on one or moredocument vectors.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a global interfaceand a plurality of specific document interfaces so that each documenthas its own specific interface where it is possible to visualize and toact on its particular characterization attributes. This aspect of thisinvention allows a user to act globally on the system while using theglobal interface as well as the possibility to act locally on eachindividual document using the specific information element interface.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a multi-vectorialcomputer operating system. The multi-vectorial locating system acts as adirect link between the documents and the different devices. Furthermorethe operating system presents the information using document vectors.The multi-vectorial operating system adds more value than a prior artoperating system because it includes more than only the “computermechanic” by assisting the user to manage documents.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a long-term view of thevectorial space that may be utilized like a radar screen. Therepresentation gives the user an extreme “zoom out” picture of thedifferent visualized document vectors in a simplified form. Thisrepresentation makes visible in the display a large quantity ofgraphically represented documents. A time grid might be applied so theuser can easily see the documents according to, illustratively, time.Furthermore, an document coloration variation provides more informationabout the various documents. That way, the user can perceive patternsamong documents. The grid can provide a view of the past and the future,relative to a document. Showing the future, for instance would be anappropriate way to present tasks from the user's agenda or futureactions to be taken (base or not on previous document). Selection of asimplified form of a document leads the user to alternate informationrelated to the document.

Another aspect of the present invention is that the document vectors arerepresented in a way it is possible for the user to use a controller to“navigate” within the vectorial space. The information elements beingpresented on document vectors it is now possible to navigate using therelations between the documents and the links presented to the user.Every move in the vectorial space offers the user a specific multimedia“story”.

In one aspect of present invention, a theme can be applied to thevectorial space to improve the user experience. The theme helps tomaximize the user's experience in using the vectorial space. The gametheme uses the different document vectors, the zooming effect, and thenavigation capabilities of the system to transform information managingin an electronic game mean. Another aspect of this invention is to use a“game controller” instead of a mouse or a keyboard to use the currentlydescribed system. A game controller is usually used with game console toimprove the user's experience and to maximize the abilities of the userto make many complex actions with a simple tool. The use of the gamecontroller can be made in addition to the mouse, the keyboard or anyother means for influencing the computer system.

It is an aspect of the present invention to integrate seamlessly theagenda, the email system and the address book of the user in theinformation system. The agenda and the address book are generallyconsidered by prior art information managing systems as distinctive“tools” but they are, in fact, either or both documents andcharacterization attributes.

Another aspect of the present invention is to offer at least threeinterconnected main document vector types, illustratively: personal,professional, and corporate. Then, if the user needs to, those documentvectors can be isolated so only one of them can be shared therebykeeping the others secured. It may also be possible that access to theuser's information, restricted or not, be given to other parties, or tothe user from a remote location.

According to another aspect of the present invention, every informationelement has a number. The number is, most of the time, given accordinglyto the entry order. Since the document format is standardized in thesystem, the user can intuitively consider the number as a “page” numberso it is easy to refer to a particular document. Complex page numbersare also utilized to identify an information element on more than onedocument vector. Complex page numbers can also be utilized to add moreinformation to a document page number. The number is also used as ahyperlink inside the system. That way it is possible to link documentsbetween them so it becomes possible to access directly a document fromanother inside the vectorial space.

Another important aspect of the present invention is to provide aplug-in mean to a conventional browser (i.e. Internet Explorer™,Netscape™, FireFox™ or Safari™). The multi-dimensional plug-in providesthe conventional web browser the capacity to navigate document vectors.This leads to another aspect of the present invention providing aweb-based system.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a direct way toproduce an Internet web site. The information element to be included inthe web site can be selected choosing the appropriate characterizationattribute. This would lead to an easy to build “multi-vectorial”website.

An aspect of the present invention provides a tool for classifyingdocuments to allow a multi-dimensional graphical representationcomprising a plurality of characterization attributes associable with aplurality of documents to enable classification of the documents, atleast some of the plurality of characterization attributes adapted toenable a first group of documents, each document from the first group ofdocuments having at least one characterization attribute in common; atleast some of the plurality of characterization attributes adapted toenable a second group of documents, each document from the second groupof documents having at least one characterization attribute in common;and an interface adapted to enable the formation of a first documentvector displaying at least some of the documents from the first group ofdocuments and the formation of a second document vector displaying atleast some of the documents from the second group of documents, andadapted to enable navigation along each document vectors.

Another aspect of the present invention provides an apparatus and/or amethod for representing and managing a plurality of document vectors,each displaying a group of documents, using various visual distinctivefeatures to draw relations between documents according to relatedcharacterization attributes, conditions, delays, actions and tasksaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

One aspect of the present invention provides an apparatus and/or amethod for displaying and managing a document vector along a timeline,that use various visual distinctive features to improve the meaning ofthe graphical representation of the plurality of documents.

An aspect of the present invention provides a computerized system fordisplaying, managing and rendering technological mappings by displaying,on document vectors, documents associated withtechnologies/product/systems and adding various visual distinctivefeatures to the displayed documents and/or displayed document vectors toidentify relations between documents and/or document vectors.

These and other advantages and features of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following description and the attacheddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block-diagram of the sources of information leading toknowledge growth;

FIG. 2 depicts a schematic representation of the growth of anindividual's knowledge in time;

FIG. 3 depicts a schematic representation of multiple individual'svectors in time;

FIG. 4 depicts a schematic representation of parallel vectors ofindividuals in time and the contacts leading to the exchange ofinformation between them;

FIG. 5 depicts a schematic representation of the “bicephal”(personal/professional) aspect of an individual's path in time;

FIG. 6 is a block-diagram of an integrated hardware and softwarecomputer system;

FIG. 7 is a block-diagram of a filing process controlled by the SMLOI;

FIG. 8 is a block-diagram of the multiple unique filing processcontrolled by a prior art operating system;

FIG. 9 is a block-diagram depicting the multiple-link part of the filingprocess controlled by the SMLOI;

FIG. 10 is a block-diagram depicting the information insertion levels inthe SMLOI;

FIG. 11 depicts the notions of information's layer, version and assemblyin the SMLOI;

FIG. 12 depicts one SMLOI information element;

FIG. 13 a depicts an information element with a date and time counter;

FIG. 13 b depicts a unified format representation of an informationelement;

FIG. 14 depicts a more detailed view of the characterization attributewindow from the attribute sub-area in the SMLOI;

FIG. 15 depicts a SMLOI information element illustratively having aunified format representation of an audio document;

FIG. 16 depicts an alternate dynamic assembly of an audio unified formatrepresentation document in the SMLOI;

FIG. 17 depicts a SMLOI information element illustratively having aunified format representation of a video document;

FIG. 18 depicts an alternate dynamic assembly of a unified formatrepresentation video document;

FIG. 19 a depicts a unified format representation of an Internet sourceddocument;

FIG. 19 b depicts an alternative unified format representation of thedocument of FIG. 19 a;

FIG. 20 depicts an unified format representation of an odd-sizeddocument;

FIG. 21 depicts an unified format representation of an odd-sizeddocument resized in a standard SMLOI information element size;

FIG. 22 depicts an unified format representation of a reference to anon-electronic document;

FIG. 23 depicts a SMLOI basic entry sequencing applied to an unifiedformat representation of a document as it is inserted in the SMLOI;

FIG. 24 depicts an alternative “pile” methods of graphicallyrepresenting the information element order in the SMLOI;

FIG. 25 depicts an alternative “roll” method of graphically representingthe information element order in the SMLOI;

FIG. 26 depicts the use of bookmarks in the SMLOI;

FIG. 27 depicts a bi-dimensional view of two intersecting informationelement vectors in the SMLOI;

FIG. 28 depicts a bi-dimensional view of multiple intersectinginformation element vectors in the SMLOI;

FIG. 29 depicts a tri-dimensional view of three information elementvectors in the SMLOI;

FIG. 30 depicts a tri-dimensional view of three information elementvectors in addition to a fourth vector in the SMLOI;

FIG. 31 depicts the second relative information element vectorpossibilities according to the fourth vector;

FIG. 32 depicts a typical corporate bloc diagram;

FIG. 33 depicts an alternative SMLOI illustratively applied to amulti-user corporate environment;

FIG. 34 depicts an access grid from a SMLOI in a multi-user corporateenvironment;

FIG. 35 depicts an alternative SMLOI in a multi-user corporateenvironment;

FIG. 36 depicts an alternative SMLOI access bloc diagram for a typicalcorporate environment;

FIG. 37 depicts a uni-dimensional view of the SMLOI with access codes;

FIG. 38 depicts a uni-dimensional limited access view of the SMLOI;

FIG. 39 depicts a privacy-enhanced view of the SMLOI;

FIG. 40 depicts a bi-dimensional limited access view of the SMLOI;

FIG. 41 depicts a uni-dimensional view of the SMLOI;

FIG. 42 depicts a uni-dimensional view of the SMLOI in privacy-enhancedmode;

FIG. 43 depicts a proposed graphical interface for the SMLOI;

FIG. 44 depicts multiple view size windows of the SMLOI;

FIG. 45 depicts a proposed “radar-screen” in the SMLOI;

FIG. 46 depicts a proposed “radar-screen” presenting the future in theSMLOI;

FIG. 47 depicts a proposed view of the SMLOI in a web browser window;

FIG. 48 depicts SMLOI as part of a typical game console;

FIG. 49 depicts a typical game console controller;

FIG. 50 depicts a path using multiple information element vectors;

FIG. 51 depicts a bi-dimensional view of the SMLOI with non-parallelinformation element vectors intersecting in distinct planes;

FIG. 52 depicts a bi-dimensional view of the SMLOI with animatedmovements of the information element vectors reacting to navigation inthe SMLOI;

FIG. 53 depicts three information element vectors according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 54 depicts the three information element vectors of FIG. 53 withvarious information element alignments according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 55 depicts the three information element vectors of FIG. 54 withvarious visual distinctive features according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 56 depicts the three information element vectors of FIG. 55 withadditional information element vectors according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 57 depicts the three information element vectors of FIG. 54 withcondition and delay applied to information elements according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 58 depicts the three information element vectors of FIG. 54 withcondition and delay applied to information elements according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 59 depicts the three information element vectors of FIG. 54 withcondition and delay applied to information elements according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 60 depicts the three information element vectors of FIG. 54 withcondition and delay applied to information elements according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 61 depicts a combination of characterization attributes, visualdifferentiators and conditions applied to patent prosecution documentsaccording to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 62 depicts a combination of characterization attributes, visualdifferentiators and conditions applied to patent prior art managementaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S) OF THE INVENTION

A System and Method for Locating and Organizing Information (SMLOI)illustratively stored in the memory of a computer system will now bedescribed in detail. The following description, specific steps,procedures, method, commands, graphic representation, computer userinterface and other specifics are set forth in order to provide athorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will beapparent to one skilled in the art that the present description of theinvention provides only one example of how someone skilled in the artcan produce the claimed invention. It will also be apparent to oneskilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced withoutor with only a portion of the specific details disclosed herein. Inother instances, well known systems and methods are shown in schematicand diagrammatic form or not shown at all in order not to obscure withunnecessary details the present invention.

The “Vector” Knowledge Theory

In order to build a good knowledge management system it is necessary toanalyze how knowledge is acquired and how it is processed by a humanbeing. A model was created to help understand how people are managinginformation and knowledge.

To improve the efficiency of knowledge management, the usefulness of theknowledge should be increased. If the knowledge is defined as the sum ofthe information retained, it can be said that the increase in efficiencyof knowledge management can be attained by improving the usefulness ofthe retained information. The usefulness of the information lies in itsability to be understood, recorded, classified, visualized, anticipated,retrieved, extracted and shared.

FIG. 1 illustrates how someone's knowledge level 10 increases.Information is acquired through contact 14 with other individuals orlearned 12. The learned information 12 can be provided by actions 16 andevents 18. FIG. 1 illustrates also that information acquired throughcontact 14 with other individuals can come from meetings or minutes 20,messages or conversations 22, and documents 24.

The information gathering process is continuous for an individual. FIG.2 shows the path of an individual, schematized by a cylindrical shape30, relative to the absolute time vector 32, as being a continuousgathering of information. The cylindrical shape 30 is a schematizedvector and will be explained in details later in this description. Thegathering process is illustratively operating through actions “a” 34,contacts “c” 36 and events “e” 38 for the purpose of this description.The amount of the knowledge or information is represented by the crossarea 40 of the cylindrical shape 30, and, as information is acquiredthrough time 32, the knowledge is increased, hence, diameter D₂44>diameter D₁ 46.

FIG. 3 shows three cylindrical shapes 30 that represent the continuous,parallel paths of three different individuals 50, 52, and 54,respectively, relative to time 32. Interaction 72 occurs betweenindividuals 50, 52, and 54 at time point 56 on the absolute time vector32 over a period of time.

FIG. 4 shows the continuous, parallel path of individuals 50, 52, 54,60, 62, 64, and 66, respectively, relative to time 32. Interaction 76occurs between individuals 64 and 66 at time point 68, interaction 74occurs between individuals 50 and 60 at time point 70, and interaction72 occurs between individuals 50, 52 and 54 at time point 56. Atinteractions 72, 74, and 76 the contacts are likely to generate anexchange of information. The information can be of a personnel or aprofessional nature. For example, if individuals 50, 52, and 54 areemployees of the same company their professional information transmittedduring event 72 at time point 56 may be labeled as corporate.

FIG. 5 shows the path of individual 50, 52, 54 and 60 with oneprofessional interaction 72 at time point 56 and one personalinteraction 74 at time point 70. Personal interaction 74 is labeled andconsidered differently than a professional interaction 72.

The cylinder 30 diameter variation, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, representsthe amount of knowledge 10 acquired by an individual. Equations andalgorithms can be applied to that cylindrical representation 30 of theincreasing diameter 46. Some of the variables may be the time vector 32,the cross area 40 of the cylinder 30, the time between contacts, thenumber of individuals, the nature of contacts, the diameter variationrate, the contact rate, the event rate, and the communication rate.

Accordingly, this theory, as schematized by this model, considers thetime as a major reference in the knowledge gathering process of anindividual. Other references, maybe less intuitive, will be listed laterand are within the scope of the present invention. Differentinteractions between individuals generate information exchange. Furtherin the description it will be useful to understand that the schematizedcylindrical shape 30 is a vector, further described as 230 and 232, inthe SMLOI.

The Computer System

The System and Method for Locating and Organizing Information (SMLOI) ofthe present invention is part of a computer system such as the one shownin FIG. 6. The computer system shown in FIG. 6 is a complicated one, itcould have been described only by an input/output interface unit, asystem bus or network, a storage device and a processor. The type ofcomputer system presented in FIG. 6, that is well known by one skilledin the art, includes a processing means, such as a microprocessor, amemory mean 84, such as system RAM, and a storage means that can benetwork based, such as a hard disk or other storage means having a highcapacity for storing documents and other information maintained by thefiling system. The processing means 82, the memory means 84, and thestorage means 86 (which may have its own I/O controller 88) areinterconnected by a system bus 90 which includes control signals as wellas address lines and data lines for sharing information, including dataand instructions, between the components of the computer system. Alsoconnected to the system bus 90 is an I/O controller 92 which controlsthe signals received from a keyboard 94, a mouse 96, an image capturedevice 100, a touch screen (not shown), a microphone 102, and a gamecontrol 98 and provide those signals, which indicate instructions fromthe user, to the computer system. A display controller 104 is coupled tothe system bus 90 and receives commands and data from the processingmeans 82 and from the memory means 84 via system bus 90. Displaycontroller/adapter 104 controls a display device 106 in order to provideimages for the user. It will be appreciated that the typical computersystem includes a bit mapped screen stored in memory, which may be adedicated frame buffer memory 105 or the system memory. As shown in FIG.6, a display means 106 displays on a display screen 108 a cursor 110,which is controlled by the pointing device 96. The display means 106 maybe any one of a variety of known display systems, such as a video (CRT)display monitor or a liquid crystal display or plasma screen. Futuredisplay devices such as E-paper, rolled screen and other display devicessuch as direct retina projection, direct brain stimulation means, andmeans for 3D representation are also considered as appropriate displaydevices. The SMLOI can also use a gaming console, a portable dataassistant (PDA), a portable digital music player or a wireless phone asa computer system.

The pointing device 110 of the present invention may be substantiallyidentical to the cursor control means shown in U.S. Pat. No. Reissue32,632. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatmany other types of cursor control means may be utilized, such asgraphic tablets, keyboard, touch tablets, trackballs, pen inputmechanisms, touch screens, game controller for game console, etc.Indeed, any device capable of indicating x-y locations and capable ofcontrolling a cursor on a display means of the computerized system maybe utilized in the present SMLOI as a pointing device. This includes the“target point” illustratively located in the center of the display meansin action video games.

The pointing device, such as a mouse 96 will often include a signalgeneration means that typically includes a switch connected to a button97. A user presses the button 97 to send one signal to the computer andreleases the button to send another signal to the computer. Other signalgeneration means, as is well known in the art, may be used such as usingcertain keys on a keyboard 94 or using a pen input device whichpositions a cursor and, by pressing the pen's tip against the displayscreen, selects the item pointed to/pressed at on the display screen.

Other kind of devices can be utilized as pointing devices and can alsowork to indicate x-y and x-y-z locations if the display device allowsthe user to perceive a third dimension. Game pad, tactile glove, voiceactivation and other kind of pointing devices means are considered asappropriate pointing devices and are within the scope of the presentinvention.

Entering a document, which can be any kind of digitized information, canbe made in more than one way, through at least one action on thecomputer system. One way is as the user is working on a document throughan application software to click on the designated SMLOI icon located intypical windows-like operating system in the “task bar” or “status bar”.One alternate way in a typical windows-like operating system is to draga document (opened or not) on the SMLOI icon on the “desktop” and dropit. One other alternate way is for the user to consider his/her SMLOI asa printer, and do a print-to-the-SMLOI command. One other alternativeway could be for the user to consider his/her SMLOI as a drive, and do asave-under-the-SMLOI command. The SMLOI icon can sit in the “dock” in anApple-computer-like environment. The SMLOI can also have embeddedfunctions in other applications that automatically achieve the sameactions or tasks.

In the SMLOI, the management of the computer memory space allocation canbe handled by the SMLOI. FIG. 7 shows a block-diagram of such a handlingfrom the SMLOI. The document 102 is linked to the characteristics (orattributes) 117 and stored 109 under the SMLOI. The SMLOI can generate astandard file 114 on the storage means 86. The SMLOI could provide theadded benefit of automatically encoding and/or encrypting all files andillustratively generate a unique or multiple “.SMLOI” type files 115making their access without the SMLOI impossible, thus increasingsecurity.

All existing documents or other data in a computer system directory canbe entered in the SMLOI as the SMLOI is installed on the computer. Allexisting files found on different memory devices and storage devicessuch as a floppy disk, a hard drive, magnetic tape, optical drive, RAM,Flash memory, DVD, CD-ROM, USB key or other memory support can beentered as SMLOI elements as a result of a single enter-in-SMLOIcommand. All incoming e-mails and their attached files can be entered inthe SMLOI as a result of the choice of such a default mode in the SMLOIsetup options. It is understood all technologies available for wirelessdata transfer are encompassed by the present invention. Illustratively,the information elements, the axis, the files associated with theinformation elements and all other data related to the SMLOI can bewirelessly transferred using Wi-Fi networks, cellular phone lines,microwaves, AM and FM band, satellites-based networks and other meansfor transferring data without physical wires.

The SMLOI reduces the number of times a document file has to be saved inthe computer memory means. FIG. 8 shows a block-diagram of a prior artsystem, where a document 112 gets linked to four different subjects ortopics, namely A, B, C and D. This is accomplished by filing copies ofthe document into four different directories 120, occupying fourlocations 121 in the computer's memory and four times the memory space.FIG. 9 presents a block-diagram of the SMLOI where a document 112 issingly stored in the computer's memory (through the operating system(OS) or SMLOI) and entered in the SMLOI. The document is then attributedrelated attributes/characteristics. The only memory spaces occupied arethen for the document itself 124, and its SMLOI-only information 126,respectively.

FIG. 10 shows a block-diagram of the system levels. Level zerocorresponds to the level without the SMLOI. Level one 130 is attainedthrough installation of the SMLOI. Level one 130 allows the SMLOI torecord a document with minimum interaction with the user. Level one 130considers the primary insertion 133 as a “drag and drop” like meansaction from the user. The SMLOI automatically records the informationlinked to the document 112 such as (but not limited to) the file format135, the time the insertion in the SMLOI was made, and the size of thefile. These characteristics are considered as intrinsic characteristics136 (e.g. intrinsinc characterization attributes) because they only askfor the insertion action from the user.

Level two 131, as presented on FIG. 10, is the same as level one 130with the addition of extrinsic characteristics 138. Extrinsicattributes/characteristics 138 correspond to the information known bythe user that helps with understanding the meaning and the relation ofthe document 112, to that which it relates, and all other informationthat can assist with understanding the value of the document 112.Simply, each document has its own unique extrinsicattributes/characteristics. The addition of the extrinsicattributes/characteristics requires more actions from the user. As such,level two 131 is considered a secondary insertion 140 because it can bedone at a different time from the primary insertion 133 in the SMLOI.Level two 131 also allows the user to modify intrinsic characteristics141. Level one 130 and level two 131 do not alter the document in theSMLOI itself.

Level three 132 brings the user to a level where the document may bemodified in the SMLOI. Annotations 142 can be made by the user in orderto add more meaning to the document already entered in the SMLOI. Theannotation, namely a layer 143, can be considered as a distinctdocument. FIG. 11 shows an annotation 142 on which the user can chose tomerge 146 the layer 143 so it will become an assembly 144. An assembly144 is an independent document. Actions on documents through applicationsoftware can be monitored by the SMLOI and altered documents being savedand entered automatically as new annotations in the SMLOI as a level one130 insertion.

If source file associated to an information element in an axis of theSMLOI is moved to another location the SMLOI follows the movement of thesource file and automatically creates a link between the new locationand the information element to which the source file relates to keep theSMLOI's database up to date.

In order to increase the efficiency of the SMLOI, computer peripheralsthat are well known in the art such as printers, scanners, or safetysystems such as the ones used for biometrics recognition of the user canbe under direct control of the SMLOI. The SMLOI can also rely on theoperating system (OS) to accomplish these tasks. To further increase theefficiency of the SMLOI without requiring too much of the user, linksbetween the SMLOI and certain application software for functions such ase-mail, agenda/schedule or network access may also be provided.

In order to capture ongoing audio stream media or video stream media, amemory buffer allows the user to constantly record information so theuser can keep information before he/she gives the recording order. Thememory buffer continuously records the streaming media that was seenand/or heard by the user. The buffer has a user's specified time lengthand eliminates old data to record new data unless the user hasinstructed the system to keep what has been recorder in the memory.Useful data is then kept in another memory location for furtherconsultation.

The Information Element

Each document, music album, music track, picture, code, voice mail,e-mail, copy of a webpage, E-book, video and other formats ofinformation managed by the SMLOI is called an “information element” andis referred to as types of information. Most of them are files one cansave on a computer's memory. Illustratively, a file containing a singlemusic track (illustratively data type 1) could be juxtaposed in theSMLOI to a PDF document (illustratively data type 2), then a completemusic album (illustratively data type 3) and followed by a text document(illustratively data type 4). A document, any information, or any otherkind of data recorded in the SMLOI is illustratively represented using a“unified format”. Even if a “unified format” is desirable the SMLOI isnot limited to use a “unified format”. Many different formats cancooperate in the SMLOI, each having its own visual appearances. One ofthe goals of a unified format is to provide an easy and constant mannerof presenting various documents or data, using the same pattern. Aninformation element is preferably displayed with its specific interfaceto readily provide information about the document associated therewith.An information element can also be created by direct writing by the userinside the SMLOI using any mean like a keyboard, a touch screen, voiceor image recordation or a pen-pointing device. An information elementgenerally presents an image of the information, the multiplecharacteristics linked to the inserted document, and other informationrelated to document and to the SMLOI. The information element presentseither an image of the document or the real document itself. The usercan access the real document using the application program on thecomputer system directly through its information element.

Each information element is composed by a document and by “areas”. The“areas” are presenting, in a standardized manner, the informationrelated to the document in order to give the user an instantaneousoverview of what is related to a given document. The areas are distinctfor every information element and are illustratively superposed on therelated document thus providing an intuitive graphical assembly whileletting the underneath document image appear in order to allow the userto see the complete document. The areas are also utilized to manipulatethe SMLOI functionalities and are considered as a specific interface foreach information element in the SMLOI. The SMLOI then provides a globalinterface acting on many information elements and multiple specificinterfaces respectively acting on their associated information element.

FIG. 12 shows a complete information element 150 with its proposedunified representation. The information element's image 154 is completedby an information area 156, an anterior assemblies area 158, anintra-document multi-page area 160 and an ulterior assembliesinformation area 162. Alternatively, the anterior and ulteriorassemblies information areas can be located at the information elementbottom 163.

The information area 156 is itself divided between a date of entrysub-area 165, an event-task-action sub-area 166, a information elementcharacterization attributes sub-area 167, a hyperlink sub-area 168 andan entry sequence number sub-area 169. The information area 156 aspresented by FIG. 12 is partially superposed on the document so it iseasy to see which area is related to a specific document.

The date of entry sub-area 165 indicates the moment where theinformation element was inserted in the SMLOI. Generally the user keepsthe entry date generated automatically by the SMLOI but it is possiblefor the user to voluntarily modify the date of entry. The date of entrycan be modified if the user wants the information element to appear inthe SMLOI at a different sequential order. If the date of entry ismodified, the original date of entry is preferably kept by the SMLOI.The information element that has multiple dates of entry can be seen atmultiple places in the sequential order of the SMLOI.

FIG. 12 shows the event-task-action sub-area 166. This sub-area has thespecific role to provide all kind of time-related information to theSMLOI user. Time-related information includes meetings, tasks, alarms,status (in force, expired or pending in the case of a patent document),reminders, or the like. Icons and text are mixed to give a visual effectin addition to sounds that attract the user's attention. The backgroundcolor of the event-task-action sub-area can change to give the userfurther visual indications. For instance, green could mean thateverything related to that information element is completed, whileyellow could mean that something is currently ongoing and red thatsomething is late or past-due. Flashing background color may also have aspecific meaning. Selection of this sub-area 166 or selection of thetext/icon using the pointing device acts on specific functions as thecreation or the modification of a task, an event, or an alarm. Theinformation contained in this sub-area may also generate a to-do list orbe fully integrated with the agenda. The colors or other indicationsrelated to the event-task-action sub-area 166 can be used to,illustratively, completely fill the information element to provide ahigh level view of the status of any time related information notedabove. These information-elements-presenting-reduced-content are helpfulto abstract a portion of the content to focus the attention of the SMLOIuser to some more important meaning carried by the information elements.

The characterization attributes sub-area 167 as shown in FIG. 12presents intrinsic (metadata) and extrinsic characteristics that providethe relationship meaning related to each information element accordingto the SMLOI user. Each information element and each characterizationattribute have their own distinct meaning (i.e. either the informationelement or the characterization attribute, when taken separately, meanssomething). The characterization attributes can be categories,information element types, status, specific sequences illustrativelyaccording to time of entry in the SMLOI, last time printed, last timeread, last time selected, alphabetical order, types of songs, length ofsongs or statistic results; it is in fact any means that gives order oradditional meaning to contextualize the information elements. The usercan have its own characterization attributes and can havecharacterization attributes that are shared by a group of SMLOI users.Each characterization attribute selected by the user to be linked withthe information element will be presented in this sub-area 167. Thevisual presentation of each characterization attribute will preferablybe in the form of a button or an icon so the SMLOI user can easilyselect anyone of them individually or in group with the pointing device.No characterization attribute can appear associated with a informationelement meaning there is only one information attribute associated (orselectable by the user). In this case, selection of the informationelement itself has the effect of selecting the only characterizationattribute. The later action will allow the user to generate relativevectors that will be further explained in this description. The visualaspect of the selected characterization attributes will change so theuser will easily know which characterization attribute has beenselected. The background color of the sub-area 167 can change to givethe user further visual indications. The order in which thecharacterization attributes are presented in the sub-area is setaccording to the user preferences. Statistical organization ofattributes can be performed by the SMLOI. Favorite or “most often usedattribute” can remain, to the user's preference, on top of the list.Alphabetical ordering of the attributes is also possible. Automaticcreation of attributes cluster according to occurrence statistical orderor any desired relationship can be performed by the SMLOI. The user canbe offered first the attributes he is the most likely to select.

The hyperlink sub-area 168 as shown in FIG. 12 contains externalhyperlinks and internal hyperlinks. External hyperlinks are generally oftwo types, internet related hyperlinks and other users' SMLOI directaccess. Internal hyperlinks are generally direct links to otherinformation elements in the SMLOI of the same user. This has the purposeto give direct access to the information element references so the usercan have a quick overview of the links to the information element he orshe is visualizing.

The entry sequence number sub-area 169 as shown in FIG. 12 presents asequential number that indicates the sequence in which the informationelements are entered in the SMLOI. The entry sequence number helps theuser to have an intuitive way of classifying the information element.The entry sequence numbers are hyperlinks in the SMLOI so it is possiblefor the user to use them to draw quick access path between differentinformation elements in the SMLOI. The entry sequence number can be usedas hyperlinks between multiple distinct SMLOI thereby giving directaccess to other users information elements using the same intuitivemethod; although, when a user has another user entry sequence number inits SMLOI, this entry sequence number will be preceded by the otherSMLOI user number.

FIG. 12 also shows the anterior assemblies area 158. This area gives theuser a direct view of the anterior assemblies, versions, or annotationsof the visualized information element according to the time vector 32.The user can directly access another information element assembly byselecting the desired assembly in the anterior assemblies area 158.

FIG. 12 shows the ulterior assemblies area 162. This area gives the usera direct view of the ulterior assemblies, versions, or annotations ofthe visualized information element according to the time vector 32. Theuser can directly access another information element assembly byselecting the desired assembly in the ulterior assemblies area 162.

FIG. 12 also presents an alternate way for presenting the anterior andulterior assemblies. The alternate anterior and ulterior assembly area163 presents various assemblies, versions, or annotations, according tothe time vector 32. The current information element 150, in FIG. 12, isalso presented in the anterior and ulterior assembly area 163 as theassembly at location 170. Variation in the size of the presentedassembly helps the user to perceive the closest assembly from thecurrently visualized information element 150, 170.

The multi-pages document area 160 as shown by FIG. 12 presents to theuser a few other pages from the information element 150 if theinformation element 150 includes more than one page. If the informationelement 150 includes for instance 5 pages, the multi-pages document area160 will present the four that are not shown in the document image 154.The user can select them if he or she wants to have a bigger picture ofthe desired page. If the number of pages is larger than the spaceavailable arrows 171, 172 will indicate that there is more pages to seeso the user can scroll up or down to visualize them.

FIG. 13 a presents an information element 150 with its information area156. The date of entry area 165 generated by the SMLOI is applied to theinformation element in FIG. 13 b. The date the information element isentered in the SMLOI can be seen in its date of entry area 165. Thebackground color of the date of entry area can change to give the userfurther visual indications. Selection of this sub-area using thepointing device acts on specific functions.

When the user inserts a document in the SMLOI he or she can select theappropriate characterization attributes. FIG. 14 presents a means toselect the appropriate characterization attributes for an informationelement 150. Entry window 174 is used for the display of the intrinsicand extrinsic characterization attributes. FIG. 14 also presents, forinstance, only extrinsic characterization attributes. When the userclicks on the characterization attribute sub-area 167, the informationelement characterization entry window 174 opens, allowing the user toadd, modify, or delete information element characterization attributeswhile getting access to his/her list of “favorites” characterizationattributes. The user can either type in a new 176 characterizationattribute or click on the proposed attribute or click on the arrow tohave the characterization attribute list appear on a specific topic.Picking one with a pointing device from the list will make it appearwith a button in the characterization attribute sub-area. To increasethe first-glance impact, symbols and colors are added to thecharacterization attribute sub-area 167 as well.

In the event of a subsequent alteration of these characterizationattributes, a trace can be kept of both the change details and theoriginal information. Not all extrinsic characteristic attributes needto be typed in each time. That is, user should be able to build his/herlist of favorites, and to select from it. The most frequentlycharacterization attribute can be displayed automatically at the top ofthe list by the SMLOI. The user is also able to link an informationelement to a task he or she has to perform or to an event, such as ameeting minutes being linked to the agenda. These are statutorycharacterization attributes.

The SMLOI provides a unified format for audio and video documents. FIG.15 shows an information element 150 that is a unified formatrepresentation of an audio document with its title 180, duration 181,and audio symbol 182.

FIG. 16 shows a dynamic layer over the unified format representation ofan audio document. The title 180 and symbol 182 are part of the basicaudio information element 150. Dialog box 185 is part of the layer andallows the commentaries to be displayed/sounded as the basic audioinformation element is displayed. The display bar 187 gives an idea tothe SMLOI user on the position of the audio listening. The positionindicator 189 moves from left to right as the video document is playedin typical media player fashion; using the pointing device, the user candrag this position indicator 189 to the left or the right, and resumelistening to the document at another point. The musical symbol 190 inFIG. 16 is the indicator of additional audio comments added to a layerover the audio information element 150. The triangular symbol 192 is(for instance) an indicator of a written comment added to a layer overthe audio document and shown at a specific time. The camera symbol 194is an indicator of a video comment added to a layer over the audiodocument. A duration indicator shows up when the user points thepointing device to one of the comment indicators and displays in thewindow 185 the time at which the comment has been inserted over thetotal duration of the original information element.

In FIG. 16 are buttons 194 typical of media player and are pause, stop,play, fast reverse, and fast forward, respectively, and are, inaddition, commands for the displaying/activating the comments. Commentwindow 185 shows the written and video comments as their insertion pointis reached while the document is played or as the user clicks on therelated indicator. If so desired by the user, the document can beautomatically stopped from playing momentarily as comments 192, 195 and190 are “reached”.

FIG. 17 shows an information element 150 that is a unified formatrepresentation of a video document with its title 180, duration 181,video symbol 196 and projection window 198 that is used for displayingthe video information element 150 of FIG. 17. FIG. 18 shows an assemblybuilt from the addition of a dynamic layer over the unified formatrepresentation of a video document. The title 180 and symbol 196 arepart of the basic information element and are visible through the clearsubstrate of the layer. The functions are generally the same as the onespresented previously for an audio document in FIG. 16

FIG. 19 a shows an information element where image 200 is the actualpicture of a web page as an information element in the SMLOI. The usermay either copy information as presented by FIG. 19 a into the SMLOI orjust writes a hyperlink to reach the information as in FIG. 19 b. FIG.19 b shows an alternative representation of the same element with onlythe symbol 198 on the center of the page and the web address (URL) 199.

Numerous software applications are available to help users keep track oftheir schedules and of the tasks they need to accomplish. The tasks ofthe user can be displayed as information elements in the SMLOI, and begraphically recognizable within the SMLOI. Tasks as information elementscan be associated with related sub-space (item 166 in FIG. 12) andlinked to appropriate characterization attributes. Color and other typesof coding are part of the unified format representation of such aninformation element to graphically inform the user of the status of agiven task as previously described. The appropriate sub-area willdisplay codes related to the task as well as the due datecharacterization attribute. Events from the agenda (such as meeting) ornot (such as voice messages or conversations) can be displayed asinformation elements, and be graphically recognized as such within theSMLOI. Details of the event such as date, time or location areaccessible directly form the information element. The user cangraphically visualize linked tasks (such as preparation for meeting oran action resulting from a voice mail) as well as linked informationelement (such as a list of documents he or she may need to recover to goto a given meeting). The user is able to visualize linked tasksgraphically, as well as linked elements of information (such as a listof document he or she may need to recover as part of the task). The usercan create work lists, prioritized or not, from the tasks inserted inthe SMLOI.

Information elements can be linked to individuals (such as a list ofparticipants present at a meeting where a given report has beendistributed). Such a link can be established by 1) entering the event asan information element, with its participants as characterizationattributes as well as indicating another element (the report) as anhyperlink and 2) by asking on that information element or on the areasof the information element to visualize the linked elements, which wouldthen show the event among other information elements on the relativerepresentation vector, which means the second dimension that will beexplained later in details.

For an information element of an event entered in the SMLOI, thestatutory sub-area would become the event sub-area by displaying codessuch as “preparatory task to be done”, “past event” or “event to come”,etc . . . A direct link to another information element can be includedin the characterization attribute sub-area or in the hyperlink sub-area.

The SMLOI can display documents that were meant to be printed on paperformats different than the user-specified default format (“letter” or“A4” paper size for example). FIG. 20 shows an example of such anodd-sized document, where the proportions of the image are similar tothe ones of the real document. Such an approach could, however, prove tobe rather inconvenient if more than one element is to be viewed at thesame time. It then may be desirable that all the information elements bedisplayed within a common-size “sheet size”. FIG. 21 shows such anarrangement, where the image 202 of the document and a label 203indicates the true size of the document. The information element“envelope” would then always be the same for “letter” paper sizeproportions.

The user can keep track, via his/her SMLOI, of all of his/herinformation elements, even if they are not under an electronic format. Anumbering system for those external reference materials may be createdand a short comment for each may be written. FIG. 22 shows a unifiedformat representation for an information element linked to an externalreference material where a symbol 205 used to designate such externalreference material. A title 206 given to the document by the user, alabel 207 showing the number of the document as per the user's numberingsystem, and the location 208 where the actual document is physicallykept may also be implemented.

Some information elements collected by a user can be made available forviewing by others as a means to stimulate creativity. For instance,interesting articles could be sent to a “pool” and available forbrowsing by other SMLOI users or be sent one at a time at a specificrate through e-mail to selected SMLOI users. A user may also choose tohave old clippings sent to him/herself after a certain delay to refreshhis/her own memory. Random order element visualization is also anoption. Such elements could be sent through e-mails or be used as the“desktop wallpaper of the day”, the “screensaver of the day”, or even bedisplayed in SMLOI as “publicity stripes”.

The SMLOI user can select the “SMLOI web site” attribute. By doing so,the user may build a “SMLOI web site” with the selected informationelement. The user website will present the selected information elementsin a web page for others to visualize the information elements on theInternet using an SMLOI browser “plug-in”. This way, the SMLOI user canshare to everyone on the internet the selected information elementswithout any complicated task. The other SMLOI functions that will befurther described are also enabled within a browser plug-in.

The SMLOI includes a “collection tool” allowing for easy gathering andorganizing of a series of information elements. Options for display arealso offered to the user such as a formal portfolio, scrap book,logbook, notebook, or slide show. These collections may be sent to otherSMLOI users, not as memory-consuming-bunch of files, but rather as alist of links and punctual access rights.

The SMLOI has an enabled collection process. For instance, five elementsare selected by the SMLOI user who then creates a collection therefrom.The collection then becomes an element which, among its attributes, hasthe intrinsic characterization attribute “collection” and is inserted inthe SMLOI. The user can then use the collection in many ways. Forexample, the user may send access rights to another user or do a full orpartial print of the information elements. The user could also visualizeor print a list of the information elements contained in the collectionor create a slide show of the information elements that could be sent orbecome presentation material.

It may also be desirable for the SMLOI to narrow the gap between theelectronic data management and the more traditional handwritteninformation. This may be accomplished with the SMLOI through theintegration of handwriting recognition, applicable software, andelectronic signature capability. This may also be accomplished byintegrating in the SMLOI the capability of generating encodednote-taking material and properly filing the digitized hand writtenmaterial. A purpose-printed note paper (or template) may also begenerated by the SMLOI and printed. The template is then used as normalpaper for taking notes and is scanned for its insertion in the SMLOI.During the scanning process, the SMLOI recognizes identification markson the template (such as a printed bar code or a hand filled boxes) andassigns intrinsic attributes accordingly as it creates a new informationelement in the SMLOI.

The Multi Dimensional Representation

In order for a user to keep track of the sequence in which theinformation elements are related to each other, the SMLOI provides a wayto keep specific sequences between information elements. One means ofestablishing such a sequence is by representing the entry of aninformation element. The SMLOI is also providing an entry sequencenumber to keep the information elements in the order that they have beenentered. FIG. 23 shows an element 150 that is added to a pile ofelements 210 where the entry sequential number for the first element 212entered has number one and the last, “n”. The new element 214 added thengets the sequential entry number “n+1”.

The invention provides a way to see part of a sequence through precedingand following information elements. For example, FIG. 24 illustratesthat the information elements 150 are placed side by side and in theorder that they had been entered. The last information element added tothe sequence would be the one at the extreme right 216 according to thetime vector 32. FIG. 25 shows another way of viewing the sequence. Theinformation elements 150 are placed side by side and are rolled in thatorder on a roll 218 still according to the time vector 32.

The time vector 32 usually represents the absolute chronological orderthat is applied on information element vectors whether they areincluding all the information elements 150 or only a portion of them.Absolute information element vectors and relative information elementvectors are then linked to a time vector 32. The time vector 32 sequencecan be replaced by a specific sequence vector that is not necessarilyrelated to time. In that order, only the sequential aspect of the timevector 32 would be kept and applied with some other consideration, likestatistical considerations, to a specific sequence. Hence, aninformation element vector can be related to the number of times aninformation element has been selected. That is, the information elementvector 32 presents the information elements in a incremental order. Theinformation element vector 32 can also be generated ascendingly ordescendingly considering the memory size of the information elements150. The information element vector may also present the informationelements 150 based on the number of characterization attributes 178applied to each information element.

The spreading-the-information-elements exercise, shown on FIG. 24 andFIG. 25, directionally towards the right may also be done in anydirection. The display of the information elements in such a mannercreates an information element vector allowing the user to visualize theinformation elements 150 entered as well as the absolute sequence intowhich entry has been done.

The system user can introduce “breaks” and “bookmarks” in theinformation element vectors to have reference points within the sequenceof information element entry. FIG. 26 shows such an implementation ofbookmarks 220, 224 where, in that case, the bookmarks are relative to aperiod of time. For instance, two information elements 150 have beenentered during the period P 222 which is delineated by bookmarks 220 and224. The bookmarks may also be specifically placed by the user as periodmarkers as shown in FIG. 26 and/or automatically by the SMLOI at everyperiod of time and/or in any user-defined manner.

FIG. 27 shows a bi-dimensional information element vector dispositionwhere all the information elements 150 from the user's SMLOI arerepresented along a first (horizontal) vector 230, where the most recentis shown on the right side according to the time vector 32. Informationelement vector 230 is the first, or absolute, information element vectorin the sense that all information elements 150 are present on the vector230 (although a subset of all information elements can form vector 230).The first vector is illustratively horizontally disposed but a personskilled in the art would appreciate a different position is encompassedby the present patent application.

A second information element vector 232, that can be a subset of thefirst information element vector 230, is graphically represented, nonparallel to, or intersecting the first information element vector 230.The second information element vector 232 is created when a desiredcharacterization attribute, illustratively the “E” characterizationattribute 234, is selected by the SMLOI user on at least one informationelement 246 from the first information element vector 230. The selectionof the “E” characterization attribute 234 might automatically create thesecond information element vector 232. Illustratively, the selection ofthe desired “E” characterization attribute can be achieved by pressing abutton “E” 234 on the desired information element 246. The informationelement 246 can also be automatically selected when the characterizationattribute “E” 234 is selected without any other action. Conversely, ifone characterization attribute, for instance the information attribute“E” 234, is primarily associated with desired information element 246then selecting the desired information element 246 itself wouldautomatically use the information attribute “E” 234 to generate thesecond information element vector 232 based on information attribute “E”234. A single information attribute can be blindly associated to itsrelated information element. The first information element can becomeinvisible when the second information element vector becomes visible onthe display device.

The second information element vector 232 is generated by the SMLOI at adifferent angle (illustratively at a 90° angle from the absolute vector230, on a 2D display) or on a different plane than the first informationelement vector 230 using the selected information element 246 as areference (that is illustratively the intersection information elementbetween the two vectors as appreciated on FIG. 51). On the secondinformation element vector 232 are shown only the information elements,from the first information element vector, commonly sharing the “E”characterization attribute 234 (illustratively visually presented in thecharacterization attribute sub-area). The second information elementvector 230 could also present a set of other information elements notpresent in the first information element vector 230 but related to theselected desired information element 246. The most recent informationelements 150 is being shown at the upper end of the information elementvector 232 according to the relative time vector 236. As a result, theinformation element vector 232 is built according to a pre-selectedorder e.g. in the present situation it is illustratively a chronologicalorder.

Information elements 238 and 240 are actually the unified formatrepresentation of the same repeated information element 240 because itappears in both the absolute (or first) information element vector 230and the second information element vector 232 sorting the “E”characterization attribute 234. The duplicated information elementsappear on the second information element vector 232 at their respectivechronological positions. This is also true for elements 242 and 244. Thegeneration of the second information element vector 232 can also be madeaccording to the combinative logic equation of multiple characterizationattributes (for instance: “A” AND (“B” OR “E”)).

In the event only one characterization attribute is intended to beselectable from an information element the selection of the informationelement itself can automatically select the single selectableinformation attribute. The visual aspect of the information elementcould then not show the potential characterization attribute to simplifythe amount of visual data associated to the information element. Forinstance, selecting a music album on a first vector would lead togenerate a second vector displaying the songs contained in the album ifthe only characterization attribute of the album is “songs in thealbum”. If the characterization attribute is associated to more than onetype of information elements (i.e. songs and pictures for instance) theselection of the album would generate a second vector displaying thesongs and the pictures associated with the album.

The absolute and relative information element vectors 230 and 232 inFIG. 27 illustratively create a plane (accordingly, they are co-planarbut, as it will be explained later, they could also intersect ondistinct planes). A volume can be generated depending on the number ofinformation element vectors when depth is used for a third dimension asdepicted by FIG. 29. This plan, or volume if the depth is used, can beconsidered as a vectorial space 250. The user of the present system canselect the vertical or the horizontal axis as default axis. Any axis inany given direction could be selected, according to the preference ofthe user, to be the “main” axis. The default axis will be the axispresented when only one axis is visible when the user logs in the SMLOI.

More than one relative information element vectors be generated. Eachrelative information element vector 232 is intersecting an informationelement on the first information element vector 230 when the selectedcharacterization attribute appears on elements found on the absoluteinformation element vector 230. As shown in FIG. 28, two additionalvertical vectors 248 and 252, aligned with elements 254 and 256,respectively, are provided. Other variations might be appreciated by askilled person.

FIG. 29 shows the SMLOI, now “tri-dimensional” with the addition ofassemblies 257, 258 and 259 (or information element versions) related totheir respective information elements 262, 263 and 264. The firstdimension is the absolute information element vector 230 according tothe absolute time vector 32. The second dimension is the relativeinformation element vector 232 containing the attribute “E” 234according to the relative time vector 236 with its intersection centeredon the desired information element 246 from which the characterizationattribute “E” is illustratively selected. The third dimension is anotherrelative information element vector relative to time vector 265 andshows the assemblies relative to information elements that possess atleast one assembly. The more recent information element in the latterassembly is shown on top according to the time vector 256.

FIG. 30 shows that the system may have four dimensions. The fourdimensions are presented on the SMLOI where 230, 270 is the firstdimension, or absolute information element vector, 232, 271 is thesecond dimension or relative information element vector and 257, 272 isthe third dimension or relative information element assemblies vector.Item 273 represents the fourth (illustratively) “circular”characterization attribute dimension. The characterization attributechoice, in order to generate the second dimension 232, 271, is adimension that can be schematically represented as a “circular vector”because of the multiple different possible characterization attributeselection leading to various different second dimension informationelement vectors. This possible plurality of second information elementvector can be visualized as orthogonal 273 to the first informationelement vector axis 230, 270.

FIG. 31 shows that since there are at least as many relative informationelement vectors 271, 275, 276 as there are characterization attributes,all the relative sequences can be represented as many rays 278 comingout of a center hub 280 that is the selected information element 246 onthe absolute information element vector 270. The fourth dimension 273 asit appears on FIG. 31 is an array 278 (or rays) of information elementvectors and the selection of one characterization attribute (orcomposition of many) dictates which relative sequence of informationelements will lead to the generation of the relative information elementvector 232. The SMLOI user can group the information elements bycombination or segregation of characterization attributes. Usingcombinative logic, this actually would turn the fourth dimension 273into an almost infinite number of rays around the center hub 280.

Association of characterization attribute(s) with an informationelement, or selection of characterization attribute(s), in order togenerate an information element vector can be made automatically by theSMLOI. Algorithms, statistics and other mathematical equations are mighthelp to choose the most applicable characterization attributes for aspecified information elements or group of information elements in orderto create an information element vector.

The SMLOI also provides an intuitive and efficient system for managingthe user's elements of information, personal or professional in nature.The user and his or her professional information can be part of a biggerpicture if he or she is an employee of a corporation for example. TheSMLOI user is able to visualize his/her personal andprofessional/corporate SMLOI (distinction coming from one majorattribute) at once or separately, and that that option be carried outthrough a single command.

A corporation is considered a moral user of the work related informationof its employees. A corporation or other multi-user environment can haveall its employees dealing with information elements in a similar mannerfor training purposes, and for the preservation of the “corporateknowledge” (structured and unstructured data), and for prior artrecording purposes. The “corporate knowledge” is considered as a seriesof “parallel SMLOIs” with an SMLOI for each of its employees in asimilar fashion to the previously described parallel paths forindividuals. That way, some members of the corporation are able toaccess the information in the corporation's employees SMLOI.

Multiple and distinct SMLOI can seamlessly be presented on a same timeline or axis. Personal and professional SMLOI can be presented on thesame time line just as if both personal and professional SMLOIs are onlyone single SMLOI even if they are not. They just appear to be the samefor the user. All the SMLOI of a corporation are similarly mixed andpresented as a unique SMLOI, even if in reality they are not,representing the whole corporation's SMLOI.

At least one member of the corporation has the “knowledge administrator”status such an individual has full access to the corporate SMLOIs, canforward corporate messages to employees' SMLOI, and create standardizedcorporate characterization attributes to ensure cohesion in the filing,among other functions and capabilities. Such an administrator may have aformal role in a quality-assured environment, such as one governed bythe ISO 9000 standard or a sophisticated information management analysisin order to provide an information management score that canquantitatively show the user's ability to manage its information.

The corporate administrator can represent the corporation in anintuitive manner, such as the corporation organizational chart 282 aspresented in FIG. 32 and directly link to every corporate SMLOI in thecorporation as shown on FIG. 33. FIG. 33 shows the corporate SMLOI of anemployee that has the position 283 in the organizational chart 282. Theplanar representation on the organizational chart is considered as thefifth dimension of the SMLOI. The organizational chart for that purposecan be replaced by a grid 285 on FIG. 34 and is, to the corporation useror administrator, a graphical representation of the multiple users. Inthis case, a two-vector system, for instance “5x” 287 and “5y” 288 isused to “name” different SMLOI users in the corporation, using an alphanumeric format. Other formats may also be implemented.

FIG. 34 shows the fifth-dimension grid 285 where squares are filledusing different patterns according to possible access. The grid of FIG.34 is seen through the eyes of a user represented by box 294 of FIG. 36.As indicated by square 292 of FIG. 34, total access is given at thatposition of the grid. Hatched squares as in box 296 indicate the SMLOIof fellow employees to which the user 294 (FIG. 36) has full access(professional/corporate side only). Cross-hatched squares in box 297indicate an SMLOI where punctual or microscopic access has been grantedto user 294 (of box 292) allowing visualization of selected elementsonly. Smaller cross-hatched squares as in box 298 indicate the SMLOI towhich the user of box 292 has absolutely no access to.

FIG. 35 shows the multi-dimensional graphic user interface of anemployee of the corporation SMLOI where dimension one 270, dimension two271, dimension three 272, and dimension four 273, as prescientlydescribed, can be seen. Dimension five 287, 288 may also be added. Thedarkened square contour of the grid 283 at the position “B2” indicatesthat the SMLOI 290 is the SMLOI of the “B2” employee.

An employee may allow access to his or her SMLOI, in part or in whole,to another employee or user. The user has only access to a portion ofits SMLOI (such as the professional part) while maintaining the privacyof the remaining portion (such as the personal part).

FIG. 37 presents the absolute information element vector of the SMLOI ofa user “A” where it is possible to see that information elements 315 and316 have no access restriction. Information elements 309, 310 and 311can be locked so the user can block modification access to them. Theopen padlock icon 313 is representing that access is open although itcan be locked. The lock 314 on information element 312 indicates theaccess is denied (which is a default mode for personal informationelements).

FIG. 38 shows the absolute information element vector of the SMLOI of auser “A”, as seen through the eyes of a user “B”, where “B” has onlyaccess to some information elements. Items that have a dark hatchfilling 300, 301, 302, 303 are information elements for which access hasbeen denied to “B” (because of the professional/personal firewall and/orspecific access restrictions for a given element). Items 304, 305, withno hatch filling, are seen as they would be through the eyes of a user“A”, the SMLOI owner. These information elements can be seen by the user“B” through his/her SMLOI.

For privacy reasons it is desirable that non-accessible elements, ortheir quantity be non-visible to other users. FIG. 39 shows the sameSMLOI, as seen through the eyes of user “B”, where all non-accessibleelements are hidden, and space between accessible elements is reduced.For similar reasons, some parts of the seeable information elements,such as entry sequence numbers, may be hidden as well. Accessibleinformation elements vector 320 all have their entry number “blackedout” so that neither the number of elements in the SMLOI or theirrelative position in the sequence can be known of user “B”.

FIG. 40 shows information element vectors of the SMLOI of one user “A”where, the user has granted access to information elements 324, 325,326, 327 to user “B” while refusing him/her access to elements 328, 329,330, 331.

FIG. 41 shows an absolute information element vector, from the SMLOI ofa user “A”, from which information elements 338 and 339 are locked sothey cannot appear in the “B” user's SMLOI. FIG. 42 shows the sameSMLOI, as viewed through the “eyes” (and SMLOI) of user “B”. Informationelements are hidden and replaced by one empty space 342 having a sizethat is irrelevant of the number of hidden information elements.

The Illustrated Interface

One proposed SMLOI interface using a typical windows-like environmentmain screen is shown in FIG. 43 although, the SMLOI can also be voicecontrolled. Item 450 is the operating system's bar displaying SMLOIdetails such as version 454 and user ID 456 (user name and user number).Item 452 is the menu bar of typical format and usage. Display of thisitem is left to the user's discretion. Item 458 is the window throughwhich the SMLOI relays most of the information to the user. This is thewindow where the SMLOI is displayed, is known as the SMLOI window, andoccupies the better part of the screen. This window completely fills thespace between the menu bar 452 (if displayed) and the status bar 460.

A typical information element 150 is shown in FIG. 43 with its date ofentry sub-area 165, an event-task-action sub-area 166, an informationelement characterization attributes sub-area 167, a hyperlink sub-area168 and an entry sequence number sub-area 169. The anterior and ulteriorassemblies area 170 are also shown as is the multi-pages document area160. Scroll down buttons 462 are presented on some sub-areas. Marginsfrom the original document 464 are also presented in FIG. 43.

The multi-part toolbox 466 is presented and acts on different functionsavailable depending on the actions the SMLOI user is doing. The toolbox466 includes buttons identified by icons that allow the SMLOI user toact on selected elements. In some cases the buttons may call menus ordialog boxes.

The navigation box 468 of FIG. 43 includes buttons to navigate in theSMLOI. It contains all the buttons, identified by icons, to allow theuser to surf or navigate in his/her SMLOI. Button 470 allows movementalong the absolute information element vector 230 according to positivetime vector 32. Button 472 allows movement along the absoluteinformation element vector 230 in the time vector 32 opposite direction.Button 474 allows movement along the relative information element vector232 according to positive time vector 236. Button 476 allows movementalong the relative information element vector 232 in the time vector 236opposite direction. Button 478 is for the “zoom window” function, whilebutton 479 is for “zoom-in” and “zoom out” functions. Button 481 is the“back to the last view” function and button 483 is for “forward to thenext visualized view” function. These functions are similar to the“back” and “forward” functions on a web browser. Button 485 allows theSMLOI user to access his/her intra-SMLOI favorites' list while button487 allows access to his/her Internet favorites' list.

Button 489 allows the user to return directly to the last informationelement entered in the SMLOI while button 491 opens a new “blank”information element in the SMLOI. This enables the user to work directlyon the new information element for inserting pictures or for adding texton a particular project. This is one way the SMLOI can act as a logbookor notebook.

The communication box 495 includes a communication information window497 for displaying all the information the SMLOI wants the user to knowwhen he or she is using it. The communication information window 497concentrates all the communications in the same place; as such, it candisplay alarms, chat, enter phone calls, instant messaging, provide animage of another person when video conferencing or video phone calls.E-mail features are also presented in the communication informationwindow 497 and usual functions such as in-box, new messages, attachdocument to message, reply, reply to all, transfer, exchange an element,sending box, sent box and contacts are available. The agenda and itsrelated functions including adding the agenda or linking an informationelement to the agenda are also included. Both the e-mail and agendacapabilities are fully integrated in the SMLOI.

FIG. 43 also illustratively shows the absolute relativisation bar 500and the relative relativisation bar 502. The purpose of these bars is toprovide a broader, but still limited, point of view to the SMLOI user.The user sets limit dates 504 and 506 for each bar so that the length ofthe time frame represented is customized to the user's desires. Days508, weeks 510, months 512 and years 514 are displayed time marks,illustratively as little bars (each with their own format), in therelativisation bars 500, 502. The “relative” relativisation bar 502 isonly visible when a relative information element vector 232 (2^(nd)dimension) is displayed. Signs of different shape and colors (forinstance black triangle 516) can be added as bookmarks to keep trace ofimportant information elements. A cursor (not shown) providing theactual viewing position of the SMLOI is provided so it is possible todrag it to move quickly in the SMLOI.

The user can use its SMLOI in five distinct modes: information elementsconsultation, information element insertion/creation, informationelement modification, information elements list and extraction. Thetoolbox 466 includes different functions related to those differentSMLOI modes. There is, for instance, different functions related to theinsertion mode: favorites (bookmark, hyperlink, hyperpage), quickinsertion (direct insertion without extrinsic attributes), tasks, notes,events, video sequences, audio sequences, digitalization (paper, other),and project creation (reports, slides presentations, collections).

The toolbox 466 also includes functions related to the manipulationmode. The buttons include square manipulation tool, copy, paste, elementselection, annotation manipulation, hide element (by sequence of entrynumber, by date), and search (by sequence of entry number, bycharacterization attributes, combinative logic, by date, by contact, bykey word, by document type, options). There are also functions relatedto the extraction mode with buttons for deleting, information elementcollection (add element, remove element, save collection as a newinformation element, add note in collection, print collection, presentcollection as slides). The toolbox 466 also includes a system functionssection including buttons for setup (personal setup, system setup,general setup, corporate administrator), “favorites” setup,authentication and signature (document authentication, electronicsignature), back-up, help, screen management (screen saver, wallpaper,information element presentation sequence) and the like.

Window 458 of the SMLOI includes two buttons 503 and 509. If the userclicks on the appropriate button, only the personal portion of his/herSMLOI can be visualized 503. If he/she clicks on the second button, onlythe professional/corporate portion of his/her SMLOI can then bevisualized 509. Clicking on both buttons 503, 509 (might be done with orwithout the use of the CTRL and SHIFT keys) will allow visualization ofboth portions of his/her SMLOI.

FIG. 43 shows a typical information element 150, with an informationelement characterization attributes sub-area 167, into which eachcharacterization attribute is actually a button 527, or selecting means,that can be clicked for picking the information elements to be includedin the information elements of the relative vector. Selecting blankbutton 528 at the bottom pulls out the main attributes' list forselection of the second dimension. Simple addition of characterizationattributes to the selection can also be achieved in a typical fashion byusing the CTRL and SHIFT keys from the keyboard. The user is alsooffered the possibility of including any given attribute in acombinative logic equation for the selection of the second dimension'svector 232 (a pull-down menu can appear for additions and exclusions).Such combinative logic capability can, for instance, allows the user toset border dates for his/her selection of elements carrying theattribute “x”, allows him/her to set border entry numbers dates forhis/her selection of elements carrying the attribute “y”, allows him/herto look for attributes common to other system (such as events) or evenallow element selection based on common status (such as tasks).

FIG. 44 shows a view of a user's SMLOI where the central informationelement is 520. Elements 522 and 521 are the preceding and followinginformation elements along the absolute information element vector 230,respectively. Information elements 524 and 523 are the preceding andfollowing information elements along the relative information elementvector 232, respectively. Window 530 presents a close view ofinformation element 520. Window 531 presents a zoom-out view ofinformation element 520 and shows, at the same time, the preceding andthe following information elements in order to provide a betterperspective of the visualized information element 520. Window 532 is azoom-in view of a part of information element 520 that provides thepossibility for the user to visualize details of the information element520. The zoom-in and zoom-out function can show a significant number ofinformation elements to get the big picture of the information elementdistribution along the information element vectors 230, 232 or,conversely, could show only a small portion of one information elementto see or work on small details.

The SMLOI also has a “radar screen” display format as illustrativelyshown by FIG. 45. The absolute relativisation bar 500 and the relativerelativisation bar 502, as previously mentioned, have weekly time marks510 (for instance, can be by days, months or other specific time length)extended upward and to the right respectively to effectively create atime grid. An absolute information element vector 550 appears on thegrid, and, accordingly, each of its information elements appears assquares 541, 542, 543, 544. The color (and shape) of squares 541, 542,543, 544 information elements and other visual particularities,illustratively the information element may flash, be animated or have aportion showing a different color or a sign that indicates somethingmore specific about the information element(s). For instance, it canshow search results or information elements representing tasks for whichthe deadline is approaching, show an action is past due, the status ofthe information element has changed since the last time the user haslogged in or simply to attract the SMLOI user's attention for apredetermined reason. This can be linked to any particular area 156related aspect or any characterization attribute related to aninformation element. It has to be noted the spacing between informationelements might be constant (when the time scale varies) or varies inaccordance with the time that has passed between each informationelements (when the time scale is fixed). The later is illustrativelyused for representing both the absolute and the relative informationelement vectors 550, 551. The fixed or unequal time scale can also beused when not in the radar mode throughout the SMLOI. The relativeinformation element vector 551 presents the same four informationelements 542, 543, 544, 545 that appear in the absolute informationelement vector 550 that share the same selection of characterizationattributes. A diagonal representation (not shown) according to the tworelativisation bars, referred as 500 and 502 on FIG. 43 but not numberedon FIG. 45, time frame can be utilized as well. It also has to be notedthis high level view of information elements 541, 542, 543, 544 can beused outside the “radar screen” as information elements representationsin the SMLOI showing only a limited amount of information to help theuser focuses on a limited transfer of knowledge from a series ofinformation elements. Selecting, illustratively to double click aninformation element in its reduced visual appearance, can bring a moredetailed view of the same information element, show more details ortrigger an action or, illustratively, open a related file in anotherprogram.

The “radar screen” display format as shown in FIG. 45 allows the user tohave a meaningful overview of what is happening in its SMLOI. Colors andmovements add information to the visual distribution of the schematizedinformation elements. The background is used to visualized and magnify aselected portion of the SMLOI found in the “radar screen” and isrepresented by the box 557. As an alternate way of navigating in theSMLOI, the user can drag, move or resize the selection box 557 and thebackground view will change accordingly so that the user can visualizewhatever information element is in the “radar screen” selection box 557.This function acts like a magnifying glass on a map. When the user isswitching from the visualization of an information element to the radarmode, box 557 on the radar mode will show exactly how the presentedinformation element was on the display device. Also, change in theselection box 557 will change the background view as well.

FIG. 46 shows the SMLOI in an alternate “radar screen” display format,including the “future” area 550 that acts like an agenda. Accordingly,information element 552 is a task to be done according to the time frameof the relativisation bars 500 and 502. Separators 553 and 554 visuallyseparate the past and the future and, in fact, 553 and 554 are the linesof the present and their intersection point is “now” 555. This is a wayfor the user to graphically represent his/her “to do” list.

In FIG. 47 is shown the SMLOI using a web browser or a plug-in appliedto a standard web browser. This way, everyone using a web browser (i.e.for example Netscape™ Navigator™ or Microsoft™ Internet Explorer™) canadd a plug-in (or means to adapt the web browser to use, to visualize orto act on the SMLOI) that allows the multi-dimensional data locatingsystem to run on the web browser. A user can access data, informationelements, documents or standard web pages using a web browser with theSMLOI. Non-users can visualize information, adapted web pages or otherdocuments using a web browser with a plug-in. Users can allow access tospecific information element to be viewed by other authorized users andnon-authorized users with an appropriate web browser. Is considered herea web browser any device that allows navigation on the Internet. Whileusing a web browser it is understood that the SMLOI can be web based andcommunication with the user is made using a network.

FIG. 47 shows the SMLOI using a web browser as a base program. Item 560represents the web browser software window. Item 562 represents the webbrowser classic tools, icons and toolbars. Item 564 represents thewindows-like OS task bar, item 466 represents the multi-dimensional datalocating system SMLOI toolbox, item 568 represents the multi-dimensionaldata locating system navigation toolbox, item 150 represents theinformation element presented in the multi-dimensional data locatingsystem inside the web browser, item 570 represents a selected attributegenerating the second dimension in the multi-dimensional data locatingsystem, item 572 represents the absolute information element vector anditem 574 represents the relative information element vector.

Story, Game and Simulation with the SMLOI

In order to add meaning to the information contained inside the SMLOI astory or a “game metaphor” can be applied to the vectorial space. Thiswould help to link information elements between them to improve the userunderstanding. If necessary, when using a “game metaphor”, a score couldbe calculated using multiple parameters. The SMLOI can use a 3D/virtualreality environment and, to some extent, turn the “chore” of SMLOI intosome sort of a game; the system could keep records and statistics of auser's performance as an information organizer and user.

Parameters can be as simple as the time to retrieve any informationelement, the number of elements inserted in the SMLOI per period oftime, the number of information elements exchanged per period of time,the average number of characterization attributes applied to theinformation elements inserted in the SMLOI or the number of informationelements visualized in the SMLOI per period of time. Those examples aregiven to explain that certain parameters can be evaluated and that ascore can be attributed according to pre-established standards.Statistic curves can be used to represent what is considered by anindividual or by a company as “information management standards”.

The possibility is given to the user to access his/her SMLOI and someSMLOI functions and tools through other computerized devices, such as agame console, an MP3 player or a PDA. In such cases, the program couldbe “installed” by the insertion of a “game cartridge”, i.e. aself-contained software/memory block package, or by Internet download.FIG. 48 shows the SMLOI as seen through a game console 582 andcomputer-controlled display 580 such as a TV screen. The actions areillustratively done using the game controller 585. FIG. 49 shows atypical game console controller. Just as with any game, the user/playercan attribute specific commands to most buttons and knobs. Normally thegame controller includes a left trigger 590, a right trigger 592, a leftthumbstick 594, a left directional pad 596, a white button 598, a blackbutton 599, a “Y” button 600, a “B” button 602, a “X” button 604, a “A”button 606, a right thumbstick 608, a “back” button 610 and a “start”button 612. Multiple extension slots 615 can be used for connectingadditional memory or for connecting a microphone/headset device. Othergame controllers like the Wii™, where the user has not physicalconnection with the computer or the game console is encompassed by thepresent invention. Movements of the game controller influence theactions on the SMLOI.

For example, illustratively with a more classic game controller, theSMLOI commands could be allocated as follows: the left trigger 590 tomove between information elements going back in time, the right trigger592 to move between information elements going forward in time, a leftthumbstick 594 to move on the absolute information element vector 230and the relative information element vector 232 and to move the box 557when in the previously described “radar screen” display format. A clickon the left thumbstick 594 selects the visualized information element150, the left directional pad 596 has basically the same functions asthe left thumbstick 594, the white button 598 inserts a new blankinformation element 150 ready to be written while the black button 599brings the user directly to the last information element inserted intothe SMLOI. The “Y” button 600 accesses the “radar screen” displayformat, the “B” button 602 accesses sequentially the different modes inthe SMLOI when an information element is selected, the “X” button 604selects the communication box 495 and the “A” button 606 selects thetoolbox 466. The right thumbstick 608 is used to move a “pan” view if noinformation element is selected and moves into the differentareas/sub-areas if an information element is selected; a click on theright thumbstick 608 would select the pointed area part, the “back”button 610 would be utilized just as the back button on a classic webbrowser and the “start” button 612 would keep the same role as on a gameconsole.

Multiple command interactions can also be described. For instance, aclick and hold on the left thumbstick in addition to the right/lefttrigger would provide a zoom-in/zoom-out effect. Also, the white button598 or the black button 599 could be used in conjunction with the rightor left triggers 590, 592 to provide other specific commands; this couldbe fully customizable by the user. One of the goals of adding a “gamemetaphor” is to improve the user experience and to bring him/her to apoint where managing information is not a burden anymore but a funnyintuitive interesting task. One other goal is to have a score thatquantify the efficiency of the user information management.

Other Uses of the SMLOI

Referring now to FIG. 50, it can be appreciated the SMLOI can become atrue relational search tool. Navigation in the SMLOI, beginning with aninformation element, can move on a first information element vectoruntil the user wants to know more about a first information elementencountered on the first information element vector. A characterizationattribute is then selected on the first information element to generatea second information element vector showing information elementspossessing the selected characterization attribute. The user continuesthe navigation on the second information element vector until the userwants to know more about a second information element encountered on thesecond information element vector. A characterization attribute is thenselected from the second information element to generate a thirdinformation element vector and so forth. This provides an intuitivespatial and graphical relational navigation that could truly berepresented on a display device.

FIG. 51 shows a first information element vector 230 and a secondinformation element vector 232 where the “base” intersecting element246, possessing characterization attributes A, E and H, is duplicated.This superposition of the second information element vector 232 allowsthe user to vertically move (or navigate, or scroll) the secondinformation element vector 232 while always keeping the firstinformation element vector 230 in the line of sight at the same place onthe display device. This helps the user to go explore the secondinformation element vector 232 without loosing its “base” on the firstinformation element vector 230. The second information element vector232 is illustratively superposing the first information element vector230 in a distinct plane on FIG. 51 but could perfectly be in the sameplane and just curve above the first information element vector 230 whenit comes close to the first information element vector. One skilled inthe art would easily see other variations to achieve similar results.

The vectors in the SMLOI can be disposed on the side of the screeninstead of in the middle of the screen. If the user wants to see what ishigher on the vertical axis he scrolls the vertical vector down, thusmoving the horizontal axis accordingly. The enlarged information elementremaining on the screen slightly moves higher to leave space (down) forpositioning the horizontal vector following the movement of the verticalscrolling of the vertical vector. If the scrolling continues, theinformation element gets bigger taking back the area left unoccupied bythe horizontal vector not anymore visible on the screen (because movedlower than the lowermost portion of the screen). These movements can beseen as animation of the vector and the enlarged information element onthe screen according to the movement of the vector dictated by theSMLOI's user.

Referring now to FIG. 52, the positions of the first absoluteinformation element vector 230 and the second, or relative, vector 232are disposed on the bottom-left side of the screen to maximize theuseful area 752 on the screen to, illustratively, present an informationelement in bigger format allowing to see finer details. The position ofinformation element vectors 230, 232 can move, or be animated, tomaximize area on the screen to see a bigger picture of an element or anyother information useful to the SMLOI's user. This function is depictedby FIG. 52 where the information element vectors 230, 232 changedposition to, respectively, reach positions 754, 756 and leaves usefularea 750 for illustratively visualizing an information element ingreater details. These movements on the vectors can be based on thenavigational actions of the user in the SMLOI. For instance, when theuser moves along an vector searching for a particular informationelement, it is possible he/she moves the vector thus effecting theposition of the vector on the screen in order to maximize the usefularea 752. If the relative information element vector 232 moves from theleft side of the screen to the right side of the screen, the position ofthe useful area 752 moves from the right side of the screen to the leftside of the screen to adjust with the position of the vector. Room canremain for the navigation tools between the side of the screen (or anymeans for visualizing the axis) and vectors. Other animations, like whenan information element is selected to be viewed in the useful area 752it progressively moves from the vector to the useful area 752, can alsobe made.

Streamed media content can be automatically added to the SMLOI of a userwanting such information to be added to his SMLOI. Newspapers, magazine,financial data, web pages, weather forecasts, and other information canbe streamed in the SMLOI of a user. Copyright fees can be automaticallycalculated and billed to the SMLOI user on a timely basis. Eachinformation element in the SMLOI that is not created by the user of theSMLOI can be subject to copyright or other intellectual propertylicense. The amount due to owners of the intellectual property rightscan be automatically calculated by the SMLOI and collected from theSMLOI's user.

Blogs are well known in the art. They are generally disposed as a numberof sequential communications posted one on top of the other. This formsa vertical “stream” of distinct communications having at least onecommon topic. The blog contains a number of information elements on theform of a plurality of short texts related to a particular topic. In thecontext of this patent application, the blog can be considered a vector.It would become possible to generate another vector just as previouslydescribed in this specification by selecting a particular message in theblog. More precise navigation can be obtained by selecting more preciseblog attributes to generate more refined vectors.

Patent prior art management is a possible real life application of thisSMLOI. Standard patent information such as the title, the inventor'sname, the classification, the filing date, the priority date (if any) .. . Are considered intrinsic attributes and can be gatheredautomatically using an internet crawler. Once the image of each page ofthe patent is collected by the SMLOI, the full text in searchable formatand the standard patent information are collected, extrinsic informationelement attributes can be applied. Illustratively, all collected patentsappear on the absolute information element vector. The extrinsicinformation attributes could be represented, illustratively, in theautomotive field, as the mechanical systems (i.e. drive, electrical,transmission, fuel, suspension, brake, hydraulic, seating . . . ). Thesemechanical systems can be subdivided in more refined sub-systems (i.e.suspension system could be subdivided as: shock absorber, coil, rubbermounts, fasteners, MacPherson type suspension, double a-arm suspension,bumpsteer . . . ). These extrinsic attributes can be applied whenpatents are analyzed. This classification would rapidly provide aprecise and narrow search about a specific patent using the SMLOI.

Each attribute can correspond to another completely different attributeusing a cross-reference table. A correspondence is made in the tablewhen two different attributes are related but are on different topicsand are unlikely to be selected together because they relate todifferent users but could be useful for each of them. When one attributeis selected the other will be automatically selected. Other actions maybe applied on the second attribute as a consequence of the firstattribute. One skilled in the art could make many other examples ofsimilar or related applications without departing from the scope of theSMLOI.

Writing directly in an empty information element (i.e. blank page) canbe used as an e-mail to be sent because the e-mail messaging system isfully embedded in the SMLOI. Each information element has its own little“word processing” providing each information element with writing ornoting capabilities and therefore be a potential note or e-mail. Theserver setup (SMTP, POP, POP3 . . . ) is embedded directly in the SMLOI.Selected information elements, individually or by cluster, can directlybe sent by e-mail as an e-mail with or without attachments. Embedding inthe SMLOI the e-mail system procures the SMLOI a seamless communicationcapability removing the need of having an e-mail system distinct fromthe SMLOI. In fact, the SMLOI could fully integrate all functions of anoperating system and completely integrate all functions of the operatingsystem (which is not really seen as useful from a user point of view ifnot to manage files and interconnect various third party applications).Instant messaging, video communication and the like are also intended tobe part of the communication system embedded in the SMLOI.

When inserting a batch of information elements in the SMLOI from aclassic folder and subfolder classification, the classic folderclassification is transferred into attributes on each informationelement entered in the SMLOI. This provides the possibility for a userto retrieve an information element based on its former location despitethe information element is not really located in the folder/subfolderclassification.

The SMLOI can also be utilized with a MP3 music player to manage music,albums and songs. The round multidirectional interface of the well knowniPod™ is quite similar to the navigation tool of the SMLOI disclosed inthe illustrative embodiment. The iPod's interface manages navigation onthe X (absolute) and Y (relative) vectors by simply pressing the clickwheel at 0, 90, 180 and 270 degree, by turning the click wheel the usercan zoom in/out. Conversely, pressing the click wheel at 0, 90, 180 and270 degree can zoom in/out the SMLOI interface. Data synchronization isautomatic with the SMLOI when the iPod is connected with its basecomputer or on any computer in the case the SMLOI is web-based. It isencompassed by the present patent application to fully integrate theSMLOI to the iPod's interface and possible functionalities. The SMLOI'sattributes are integrated in the iPod menu. The attributes would bemanaged by the iPod's interface just like the music menu of the iPod.Similarly, the information element vectors might be moved by directlyusing fingers on a touch screen.

Client-server

A client-server structure is an alternative to a local softwareinstalled on a single computer. The client-server option allows accessto the SMLOI from a plurality of different computers or other means foraccessing the network used by the SMLOI. Information elements areillustratively stored on various memory devices that could be physicallylocated at various places. For instance the SMLOI user can access theSMLOI from home, office and from the local library. Some informationelements based files are recorded on the PC at home, some others on thePC at work, some other on a USB key and some others, needed morefrequently, are stored on the SMLOI server. Distribution of informationelements on many different computers could also be applied to apeers-to-peers network with no real server managing the data. Eachinformation elements based files have a respective “image” that takeless memory space than the actual base file. This “image” is used withthe associated information element to display a representation of thedocument in the SMLOI. The actual file associated with the image istransferred by the SMLOI only when needed (e.g. when edition with thenative application is requested for instance).

The information elements visible on the display device (e.g. thedocuments images and the characterization attributes amongst others) andthe database including the corresponding characterization attributesassociated with each information elements and all other informationassociated with the information elements are stored on the server.Storage on the server allows access to a usable SMLOI from anywherehaving access to the network (e.g. Internet or LAN or any other type ofnetwork wired or wireless). Navigation along axis of the SMLOI ispossible using the documents' images even if the base documents arestored on a different computer than the one used by the user of theSMLOI. Access to the base documents from its respective informationelement in the SMLOI can be done if the document is stored on the localcomputer or, if access to the other remote storage device on which thedesired based document is stored (or recorded), is accessible via thenetwork. Using information element images are intended to reduce theamount of data to be transferred between the clients and the server. Thebase documents can be displayed and transferred via the network, ifbandwidth is sufficient, without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

The USB key might be utilized by the SMLOI user to carry base documents(or files) that the user uses more often. The SMLOI will access thenetwork to contact the server and get the database and the informationelements to display on the display device used by the SMLOI user. When abase document is requested from one (or many information elements) theSMLOI will evaluate which base documents are available on eachaccessible memory devices and will provide access to the accessiblebased documents. The user will have to wait to get access to presentlynon-accessible base documents when the memory device on which they arestored is accessible by the SMLOI. In the case of the USB key, the SMLOIwill search available storage devices (local memory devices and externalmemory accessible by the computer) and will allow access to the basedocuments stored on the USB key.

When the user accesses the SMLOI on a remote computer and wants to add anew document in the SMLOI but does not want to store it on the remotecomputer or on the USB key then, the SMLOI will temporarily upload thenew document on the server and store it on, for instance, the homecomputer the next time the user access the SMLOI from his home computer.The base file could also remain stored on the server depending on theuser's preference (i.e. store the base document of information elementno. xyz on 1) USB key, and/or 2) home computer, and/or 3) officecomputer, and/or 4) office network and/or 5) SMLOI server).

Peer-to-peer Computer Network

Distribution of information elements on many different computers with noreal server managing the data could also be applied the SMLOI. Apeer-to-peer (P2P) computer network relies primarily on the computingpower and bandwidth of the participants in the network rather thanconcentrating it in a relatively low number of servers. Peer-to-peernetworks are typically used for connecting nodes via largely ad hocconnections. Such networks are useful for many purposes. Sharing contentfiles (see file sharing) containing audio, video, data or anything indigital format is very common, and realtime data, such as telephonytraffic, is also passed using P2P technology.

A pure peer-to-peer network does not have the notion of clients orservers, but only equal peer nodes that simultaneously function as both“clients” and “servers” to the other nodes on the network. This model ofnetwork arrangement differs from the client-server model wherecommunication is usually to and from a central server. A typical examplefor a non peer-to-peer file transfer is an FTP server where the clientand server programs are quite distinct, and the clients initiate thedownload/uploads and the servers react to and satisfy these requests.

Visual Distinctive Features

Many information element vectors 230, each one depicting a subsetgrouping of information elements based on different combinations ofcharacterization attribute(s), represented adjacent to one another,provides a useful way to represent a plurality of information elements150 and draw links between them that are perceivable by a user.

Referring to FIG. 53, one can appreciate a first information elementvector 230.1, a second information element vector 230.2 and a thirdinformation element vector 230.3 illustratively disposed parallel toeach other on a display. Each information element vector 230.1, 230.2,230.3 uses at least one characterization attribute to determine whichinformation elements 150 subset, taken from a larger group ofinformation elements 150, is displayed. In the illustrative embodiment,information element vector 230.1 displays only information elements 150associated with characterization attribute 800, information elementvector 230.2 displays only information elements 150 associated withcharacterization attribute 810 and information element vector 230.3displays only information elements 150 associated with characterizationattribute 820.

Each information element vector 230.1, 230.2, 230.3 disposes informationelements 150 along a specific order, for example a timeline 32. Thedistance between information elements 150, for instance distances 802,812, 822, are illustratively proportional to the length of time betweenthe time of insertion of the two consecutive information elements 150 inthe SMLOI. For instance, time gap 802 represents a one week time period,time gap 812 a few minutes and time gap 822 is a month. The distancesmight be different given the time scale used to represent informationelement vectors on the display; some slight anachronisms might beunavoidable to fully show each information elements 150 (time gap 812 isproportionally larger for the period of time it represents compared tothe time gap 802, representing a week, to prevent superposing theinformation elements 150 separated by too small time gaps on theinformation element vector 810).

Still on FIG. 53, the three information element vectors 230.1, 230.2,230.3 are juxtaposed to each other to allow a user of the SMLOI to seeat least a portion of at least two of each information element vectors230.1, 230.2, 230.3 at the same time. The distance between theinformation element vectors might vary depending on the desiredappearance. Seeing many information element vectors at a glance givesvaluable information to the user by giving a view on many relatedinformation elements logical order. In this illustrative example, moreor less information element vectors 230 can be juxtaposed to fulfill therequest of a user without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. In the present situation we have three information elementvectors 230.1, 230.2, 230.3 to better accommodate the followingillustrative example that does not intend to be limitative.

Illustrative example: patent practitioners in law firms conventionallyuse a three-parts file for keeping good record of a patent prosecutionmatter. The first part, for example, physically on the left side of thefile, is used for communications with the patent office; the secondpart, physically on the center of the physical file, is used to hold acopy of the specification as filed with the figures and the right side,used for communications with the client, is on the right side of thephysical file. In the present example, the first part is displayed oninformation element vector 230.1 associated with characterizationattribute 800, the second part is displayed on information elementvector 230.2 associated with characterization attribute 810 and thethird part is displayed on information element vector 230.3 associatedwith characterization attribute 820. More precisely, to give a betterexample, the information element 804 is illustratively the declarationsigned by the inventor filed with the patent office, information element806 is the power of attorney and information element 808 is the fillingreceipt received from the patent office. On information element vectorassociated with characterization attribute 810, information element 814is the specification as filed and information element 816 is the figuresas filed. On the client side, information element vector associated withcharacterization attribute 820 displays an invention disclosure 824received from the client, information element 826 is an acknowledgementletter sent to the client and information element 828 is additionalinvention related information received from the client. Only thebeginning of the prosecution history is detailed however the remainingof the prosecution documents is illustratively shown on FIG. 53.

Now referring to FIG. 54, the same three information element vectors230.1, 230.2, 230.3 from FIG. 53 can be appreciated. Characterizationattribute 800, which represents communications with the patent office,has been further divided into two sub-characterization attributes 800.1(communications to the patent office) having a distinctive visualfeature putting these information elements slightly above the center ofthe information element vector 230.1 axis and sub-characterizationattribute 800.3 (communications from the patent office) having adistinctive visual feature putting these information elements slightlybelow the center of the information element vector 230.1. Thesedistinctive visual features improve the understanding of what happenedon this part of the file with the patent office by using various visualdifferentiators—the vertical alignment of information elements 150 onthe information element vector being one of the possible visualdifferentiators.

Characterization attribute 810, that displays the original specificationand figures filed with the patent office, has been further divided intothree sub-characterization attributes 810.1 (specification) having adistinctive visual feature putting these information elements slightlyabove the center of the information element vector 230.2,sub-characterization attribute 810.2 (figures) having a distinctivevisual feature putting these information elements centered on theinformation element vector 230.2 and sub-characterization attribute810.3 (for example preliminary amendment) having a distinctive visualfeature putting these information elements slightly lower on theinformation element vector 230.2, but, since there is no informationelements to be shown, this sub-characterization attribute remains empty.These distinctive visual features improve the understanding of whathappened on this part of the file with the patent office.

Characterization attribute 820, that is communications with the client,determining the information elements 150 to be displayed on informationelement vector 230.2, has been further divided into threesub-characterization attributes 820.1 (communications to the client)having a distinctive visual feature putting these information elementsslightly above the center of the information element vector 230.3,sub-characterization attribute 800.2 (communications with other lawfirms) having a distinctive visual feature putting these informationelements at the center of the information element vector 230.3 andsub-characterization attribute 820.3 (communication from the client)having a distinctive visual feature putting these information elementsslightly lower on the information element vector 230.3. Thesedistinctive visual features improve the understanding of what happenedon this part of the file with the patent office.

Additional visual distinctive features are shown on FIG. 55. Allinformation elements 150 being PDF documents are shaded 860 thusimproving the visual meaning of the information elements 150 in theSMLOI. Shading 862 illustratively depicts ownership transfer(information element 863 being an assignment filed with the patentoffice). Shading 861 illustratively depicts a debit note sent to theclient. Color filling 864 illustratively represents litigation relateddocuments. Thicker frame 866 illustratively means this document has beenfiled with the patent office and something is awaited in return from thepatent office but hasn't been received yet (a delay and a condition isassociated with the visual distinctive feature applied on thisinformation element). Other distinctive visual features are within thescope of the present invention; namely, but not limited to: color,shape, size, alignment with the axis, frame size, frame thickness, framecolor, icon, printed character(s) and movement. In other words, adistinctive visual feature could be anything that graphicallydistinguishes an information element from another so that a user couldquickly draw links between information elements by associatinginformation elements associated with similar visual features.

Now referring to FIG. 56, which is substantially identical to FIG. 55with the exception that too much e-mails “to” and “from” the client820.1, 820.3 have been reduced in size 870 to minimize their effect onthe visual of the information element vector 230.3. The informationelement having the heavier frame 866 has received the awaited document872 from patent office and the heavier frame 866 (FIG. 55) is nowreplaced by lighter frame 867 meaning the condition (receiving adocument from the patent office) has been fulfilled. Element junctionmark 880 ensures the user sees the connection between the two relatedinformation elements 866, 872.

Another difference with FIG. 55 is the additional information elementvectors 230.1.1 added on the information element vectors 230.1 andintersecting information element 865. This additional informationelement vector 230.1.1 depicts all communications with the patent office800 and the client 820 that have an additional common characterizationattribute. As it has been previously described, information elementvector 230.1.1, represented along timeline 32, displays the differentversions of document 865 (that is version 4 or V4) and is representednon-parallel with the information element vector 230.1. Version 1 (V1)through version 7 (V7) are shown respectively distributed on their owntimeline 265 on each side of information element 865 version 4 (V4) thatis actually timely placed on the timeline 32 of the information elementvector 230.1 displaying the communications with the patent office 800.

The information element vector 230.3 displaying the communications withthe client 820 has an intersecting information element vector 230.3.1displayed along timeline 236 that represents an information elementsubset from a larger group of information elements having a commoncharacterization attribute “E” (for example, the larger group ofinformation element can be all the information elements or anyinformation element subset). Information element vector 230.3.1 has beengenerated based on information element 864 already present on theinformation element vector 230.3 displaying the communications with theclient 820. A different characterization attribute, or a combination ofcharacterization attributes (i.e. (E AND J) OR A) after Jun. 4, 2001),could have been selected and provides another subset of informationelements related to information element 864 and disposed alonginformation element vector 230.3.1. To continue with the illustrativeexample, if information element 864 is a litigation document then, if“E” is a characterization attribute meaning “ongoing litigationdocuments” (or litigation document with the status “active”) then allinformation elements presented along information element vector 230.3.1(and timeline 236) are related to litigation documents of ongoinglitigation matters and could also be shaded accordingly if such is thedesire of the user reflected in the characterization attribute setupdrawing relations between characterization attributes and distinctivevisual features.

The multiple parallel information element vectors 230.1, 230.2, 230.3are not limitative of the actions that can be done on each individualinformation element on any information element vectors, parallel or not.For the illustrating purpose of the present example only twonon-parallel vectors 230.1.1, 230.3.1 are displayed but any otherfunctions previously described in the present specification can beapplied and generate an infinity of variations. If desired, onlyparallel information element vectors can be displayed and a non-parallelvector could be discretionally built and displayed simultaneously toshow or put more emphasis on a specific topic or a particularcharacterization attribute.

Lets focus on the first actions performed in the prosecution of thisillustrative prosecution file by looking at FIGS. 57 and 58. The elementjunction mark 882 associates the information elements 804, 806(illustratively a declaration and a power of attorney, respectively)with an expected document 884 to be received from the patent office. Theexpected document 884 will be received in the future, past the presentmoment line 900 intersecting the information element vectors showingwhere “now” is on the timeline. The filing receipt 884 is expected later(lets assume four months after filing) in time and is aligned withsub-characterization attribute “received from the patent office” 800.3and has a dotted frame indicating the document has yet to be received. Adelay, a condition and an action are associated with the junction 882.They are all characterization attributes related with the informationelements 804, 806. The delay is the normal expected delay for receivingthe filing receipt, the condition is to enter the filing receipt in theSMLOI and the action is to flag to the user of the SMLOI that theexpected filing receipt was not received within the delay. The actionuses multiple strategies like changing the visual distinctive feature ofexpected information element 884, adding the delay into a “past due”list and sending an e-mail to the user when the present moment 900passes the due date for receiving the expected document 884. Thesedelays, conditions, tasks and actions allow the SMLOI to be used as aworkflow management tool and a graphical docket system.

A series of tasks and actions can be predetermined in a specific givenorder, associated with conditions and delays, to replicate in the SMLOIa desired chain of actions. The SMLOI interconnects information elementswith associated actions, delays, tasks and conditions. This provides aneasy to follow workflow since everything can be managed with a singlesystem. If we continue with the patent prosecution example we canfurther use a few examples to illustrate a concrete application of aworkflow management SMLOI.

A provisional application (multiple information elements) is filed(action) in the United States patent office, a non-provisionalapplication (multiple information elements e.g. declaration,specification, ADS . . . ) filing (action) and other foreign filings(actions) must be done before (condition) a year from the filing date(delay based on past action that occurred at a specific time) of theprovisional application. Additionally, an information disclosurestatement IDS must be filed before (condition and delay based on anestimated time for receiving the first office action given the estimatedbacklog of this Art Unit) the first office action (foreseen actionreceiving an information element) to avoid paying the official fee(action if the previous condition is not met). If (condition) aninternational application PCT is filed (multiple information elementsassociated with an action), a copy of the International Search ReportISR (information element) must be filed (action) in a IDS with theUnited States patent office. The ISR is normally received by thesixteenth month from earliest priority date (expected delay based on thefiling date of the provisional application) and a fee must be paid(action), and so on so forth. A patent agent using the SMLOI could addon top of this a rule requesting to be warned of any condition not mettwo weeks before the due date.

FIG. 59 depicts the action of the user postponing the expected date byplacing further in time expected information element 884.1. Informationelement 884 now has a different visual distinctive feature still showinga lighter flag 886 and a frame meaning this is passed due and isreplaced by a new expected date on which is aligned expected informationelement 884.1.

FIG. 60 depicts the action of the user postponing the expected date byplacing later in time the expected information element 884.2, sending astatus inquiry 890 to the patent office to know why there is an unusualdelay, sending a letter to the client 888 explaining there is a delay (alink, not shown on FIG. 60, can be made between information elements 890and 888 to graphically show they are related). The letter to the client888 and the letter to the patent office 890 are related since they areboth dealing with the same issue and are therefore showing the samevisual distinctive feature 889. A non-parallel information elementvector (230.1.2 not shown) could have been used to search letter modelsto prepare the letter (information element 886 sent to the patent officewhile keeping an eye on information element vector 230.1.

Now referring to FIG. 61 illustrating an embodiment where thecharacterization attributes 950 are presented along with a portion oftheir possible visual distinctive features, namely the informationelement color 960, the information element shading 962, the informationelement size 964, the information element frame 966, the informationelement animation 968 and the information element alignment 970 on theinformation element vector. Each characterization attribute can also beselectively visible or invisible 954 on the display such that only adesired group of information elements, with accordingly selectedcharacterization attributes, are visible. FIG. 61 illustrates what couldlook like a setup window on a computer for dealing with patentprosecution related documents. “Available to client” means theinformation elements associated with the characterization attribute willbe made available to the client's SMLOI when the client logs in its ownSMLOI via Internet or other client-server networks. The client willaccess the information elements in a read only mode to prevent anyalteration of the information. When the characterization attribute is“shared” then the other user or the group or other users will benefit ofa deeper access providing access to more functions like adding notes orcreating a new version. Other access related functions have beendiscusses earlier and still be applicable here. Each informationattribute 950 is also associated with a specific information elementvector 952 in the case many vectors are used at the same time like inthe illustrative example of FIG. 54. Communications to patent officewill be associated with “horizontal vector #1” with the visualdistinctive feature “above”. Similarly, all characterization attributesdepending from the characterization attribute “communications to thepatent office” will be automatically put on the same information elementvector. The same logic applies to the characterization attribute“communications from the patent office” is associated with “horizontalvector #1” with the visual distinctive feature “below” and so on soforth. A dot “.” before a characterization attribute means thischaracterization attribute is part of a larger regroupingcharacterization attribute (i.e. declaration falls under communicationsto the patent office). Although it is not shown on FIG. 61, morefunctions and visual differentiators will become apparent to skilledreaders by applying the SMLOI to their particular needs. The exampledisclosed herein are for illustrative purpose only to show possibleapplications of the general inventive concepts and are not intended tolimit the scope of the present invention. The grey zones indicate nochoice is available either because there are none or because it wouldconflict with another selection already made (i.e. you can't have thesame information element aligned above and below at the same timewithout risking creating confusion).

FIG. 62 illustrates the application of the SMLOI to car enginetechnology mapping by separating the main characterization attributesinto mechanical systems (i.e. engine, transmission, exhaust system . . .), patent related attributes and other insightful attributes (i.e. typeof file, accessed lately, viewed by . . . ). For a technology mappingthe first information element vector would present all engine relatedpatents in green when they are expired and flashing if they can still bereinstated. Transmission patents will appear on information elementvector #2, parallel to information element vector #1, and displays onlylarge CVT related documents. The client's patent will be displayed oninformation element vector #3. Expired and reinstatable patents willreceive the same visual treatment. PDF documents will appear withshading. Patents will be limited to US patents and blue frames willindicate which patents have been seen by another from the “shared” list.All SMLOI functions previously described are applicable to provideinformation element vectors presenting documents related to patents andtechnology mapping in order to facilitate recognition of trends andsignificant documents among a large group of documents. Zooming in willprovide a larger view of a portion of one vector and selecting aspecific information element will call the entire document with therelated application to open it. Patents from Honda will be displayedabove the information element vectors so that they can easily bedistinguished. This illustrative example shows how it becomes possiblewith the SMLOI to easily see where are expired Honda patents related toengine, CVT transmission in relation with our client's patent. All thisis done about a timeline to provide a clear distribution of allpatents/information elements. Many other variations can be done and arewithin the scope of the present invention.

The description and the drawings that are presented above are meant tobe illustrative of the present invention. They are not meant to belimiting of the scope of the present invention. Modifications to theembodiments described may be made without departing from the presentinvention, the scope of which is defined by the following claims:

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumfor tangibly storing computer-readable code thereon suitable forexecution by a computing apparatus, the computer-readable code, whenexecuted, implementing a method for displaying a plurality of documentson a display, the method comprising: providing a first group ofdocuments having a first attribute in common; displaying the first groupof documents on a first axis; providing a second group of documentshaving a second attribute in common; displaying the second group ofdocuments on a second axis; and displaying a visual distinctive featurein connection with a set of documents having a third attribute incommon, the set of document comprising at least one document from thefirst group of documents and at least one document from the second groupof documents, wherein the third attribute is attributed to each documentin the set of documents irrespective of the position of each document inrelation to one another on the first axis and second axis, the visualdistinctive feature discriminating the documents associated with thethird attribute from the documents not associated with the thirdattribute on the axes.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium tangibly storing computer-readable code thereon for implementingthe method of claim 1, wherein each axis is a substantially rectilinearaxis.
 3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangiblystoring computer-readable code thereon for implementing the method ofclaim 1, wherein the first axis displays documents along a firsttimeline and the second axis displays documents along a second timeline.4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly storingcomputer-readable code thereon for implementing the method of claim 3,further comprising displaying a present moment visual indicator, thepresent moment visual indicator identifying the present moment along atleast one of the first timeline and the second timeline.
 5. Thenon-transient computer-readable storage medium tangibly storingcomputer-readable code thereon for implementing the method of claim 3,wherein the first timeline and the second timeline are the sametimeline.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumtangibly storing computer-readable code thereon for implementing themethod of claim 1, wherein the first axis is displayed adjacent andparallel to the second axis.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium tangibly storing computer-readable code thereon forimplementing the method of claim 1, wherein the third visual distinctivefeature is an offset in alignment of the documents from their respectiveaxis.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangiblystoring computer-readable code thereon for implementing the method ofclaim 1, wherein the third visual distinctive feature is a plurality ofvisual distinctive features, each one of the plurality of visualdistinctive features being associated with a respective attribute and isadapted to be displayed in connection with at least one document fromthe first group of documents and at least one document from the secondgroup of documents that have the respective attribute in common.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly storingcomputer-readable code thereon for implementing the method of claim 1,wherein the third visual distinctive feature is selected by a user. 10.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly storingcomputer-readable code thereon for implementing the method of claim 1,wherein the visual distinctive feature is changeable by a user.
 11. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly storingcomputer-readable code thereon for implementing the method of claim 1,wherein the first axis is adapted to be generated on basis of a firstquery and the second axis is adapted to be generated on basis of asecond query.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumtangibly storing computer-readable code thereon for implementing themethod of claim 1, further comprising a third axis disposed at an anglefrom at least one of the first axis and the second axis, the third axisbeing adapted to display a plurality of documents having a commonalityand adapted to display documents having the third attribute associatedtherewith with the visual distinctive feature.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium tangibly storing computer-readable codethereon for implementing the method of claim 1, further comprisingchanging the visual distinctive feature for a second visual distinctivefeature.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumtangibly storing computer-readable code thereon for implementing themethod of claim 13, wherein changing the visual distinctive feature isprogressive and can be appreciated by a viewer.
 15. A non-transitorycomputer readable program code for execution by a computing apparatusfor implementing a graphical user interface on a display device, thegraphical user interface comprising: a first display area adapted todisplay a first group of documents having a first attribute in common ona first axis; and a second display area adapted to display a secondgroup of documents having a second attribute in common on a second axis;the graphical user interface being adapted to display a visualdistinctive feature in connection with a set of documents having a thirdattribute in common, the set of documents comprising at least onedocument from the first group of documents and at least one documentfrom the second group of documents, the third attribute being attributedto each document in the set of documents irrespective of the position ofeach document in relation to one another on the first axis and secondaxis, the visual distinctive feature discriminating the documentsassociated with the third attribute from the documents not associatedwith the third attribute on the axes.
 16. The non-transitory computerreadable program code for implementing the graphical user interface ofclaim 15, wherein each axis is a substantially rectilinear alignment ofdocuments and wherein the first axis is displayed adjacent and parallelto the second axis.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable programcode for implementing the graphical user interface of claim 15, whereinthe first axis displays documents along a first timeline and the secondaxis displays documents along a second timeline, and the first timelineand the second timeline are the same timeline.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer readable program code for implementing the graphical userinterface of claim 17, further comprising displaying a present momentvisual indicator identifying the present moment along the first andsecond timeline and wherein the present moment visual indicator moveswith time along the timelines.
 19. An apparatus for implementing a userinterface adapted to discriminate documents, the apparatus comprising: amemory module adapted to store thereon a plurality of documents; aprocessing unit in communication with the memory module, the processingunit being operative for executing computer readable program code storedon a non-transient computer readable medium for implementing a graphicaluser interface, the graphical user interface being adapted fordisplaying on a display device: a first group of documents from theplurality of documents that have a first attribute in common, the firstgroup of documents being displayed on a first axis; a second group ofdocuments from the plurality of documents that have a second attributein common, the second group of documents being displayed on a secondaxis; a visual distinctive feature in connection with a set of documentshaving a third attribute in common, the set of documents comprising atleast one document from the first group of documents and at least onedocument from the second group of documents, wherein the third attributeis attributed to each document in the set of documents irrespective ofthe position of each document in relation to one another on the firstaxis and the second axis, the visual distinctive feature discriminatingthe documents associated with the third attribute from the documents notassociated with the third attribute on the axes.
 20. The apparatus asdefined in claim 19, wherein the third attribute is a user selectedattribute, the apparatus further comprising an input for receiving asignal indicative of the third attribute from a user, wherein uponreceipt of the signal, the processing unit being adapted to apply thevisual distinctive feature associated with the third attribute to thedocuments having the third attribute on the axes.